Darkness within Light
by SorceressOfTheOceanAndStars
Summary: After the Mark of Mastery exam, Riku became a True Keyblade Master. Even though he failed, Sora congratulated him with a big smile. But is Sora really happy for his friend? Full summery inside, Rated T for swearing and possibly disturbing themes.
1. Nightmare

**Full Summery: After the Mark of Mastery exam, Riku became a True Keyblade Master. Even though he failed, Sora congratulated him with a big smile. But is Sora really happy for his friend? Is he truly okay? After all, Riku's not the only one battling the darkness, not the only one with regrets and promises. The difference is, Riku is strong, but is Sora truly as bright as his "friends" think he is?**

 **Or will the darkness consume the light?**

 **Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot. Square and Disney owns the rights to the games, cover belongs to Saltycatfish over on Deviant Art. Link's in my profile if you wanna check out her stuff!**

 **.o.0.o.**

 _A little boy with spiky brown hair and deep blue eyes clutches onto a giant gold key in his hands. He stands in a room with one bed, two doors on either side of it, and folding closet doors across. Toys are clustered infront of the closet with a dresser to the left and right of it._

 _The little boy shines his keyblade around, checking the doors, the closet and the bed behind him._ _He runs to the left door and checks the hallway, his heart leaping in his throat when beady yellow eyes flash before disappearing around the corner. He runs to the other door and hears hissing. The boy quickly shuts the door and holds it closed, listening to the sound of skittering until all goes quiet again. He opens the door and shines the light, relief flooding through him when nothing is there. He runs back to the bed and shines a light there too just in case._

 _Black shadows quickly move out of the way until there's nothing left. The little boy looks at the clock and sighs, only one hour left._

 _He looks over at the other, older boy in the room, watching the doors along with him. The blonde boy gives him a kind smile before his eyes dart towards the closet._

 _A squeaking sound causes the little boy to jump and his blue eyes to lock onto the closet. He's very sure he's seen the door move and slowly walks up to it, the giant key raised in case something jumps out. He whips the door open and flashes the light inside, only to see nothing there._

 _He closes the door and turns around, his breath hitches when he sees yellow eyes shining in the darkness, the thing in the shadows staring at him with a predatory gleam so strong it burned. The older boy steps in front of him, his own backhanded weapon posed as he tries to protect the child. The boy raises the key in his own hands, getting into a ready stance when the thing chuckles and speaks, words whispered with a chilling hiss._

 ** _"You cannot save him..."_**

 _The creature lunges and knocks the older boy away. The little boy screams, swinging his weapon in a haphazard attempt to fight the shadow off. The creature knocks the key out of his hands and pins the boy down, his screams continuing as the thing raises a clawed hand and swipes down..._

 **.o.0.o.**

Sora bolts up in bed, sweat pouring off him as he holds a hand to his chest. He quickly turns on a bedside lamp, his movements jerky as his eyes dart around the room he is in. He heaves a sigh when he sees the familiar guest room in the Tower of Mystery, the place he is staying for training to be one of the seven warriors of light.

His breathing finally slows and figuring that he isn't going to get anymore sleep, he pulls off the covers and stands. Judging by the light outside, it's still a little ways 'till morning, which means in all likelihood everyone is still asleep, so Sora decides that a walk will probably do him some good.

He closes the door quietly behind him and walks through the tower halls, stepping out into the courtyard and feeling the pleasant breeze of the night. It's a full moon, which means a calm light shines gently on the courtyard grass and arrangements of colorful flowers that usually bloomed so beautifully in the sun. Not a cloud is in the sky, which means there are very few shadows much to Sora's relief.

He walks to the middle of the sparing grounds and summon the Kingdom Key, the keyblade that has been with him since the start of his journey almost over three years ago. It was the same key that began showing up in his dreams, trying it's hardest to protect him along with the boy who looked so much like his Nobody. Both trying help him chase away the darkness in his mind. Unfortunately, they couldn't help him with every nightmare, especially the nightmare he'd just had. He had heard somewhere that dreams were the gateway to the heart and that if someone could decipher the meanings behind them, they would learn more about themselves. But what could this dream possibly be trying to tell him?

Sora shakes his head before he goes over to one of the training dummies, swinging his keyblade at it as he practices for the up and coming battle against Master Xehanort. He zones out so much that he doesn't notice the new presence, watching as he brutally attacks the dummy without really focusing on it.

"Never expected you to be up so early for training."

Sora yelps and swings his keyblade blindly at the intruder, only to be blocked by a familiar blade shaped like a bat's wing with an angel wing branching out from the side at the tip. Blue-green eyes gaze at him under silver bangs in mild amusement.

"Oh, and now you're picking a fight? What's gotten into you?" The person says in a joking yet slightly concerned tone.

Sora takes a moment to absorb who the voice belongs to, a pale yellow jacket and grey pants, strong hands holding the Way to Dawn with the usual teasing smirk. Deep blue eyes widen as Sora pulls back with a gasp, "Riku! I'm so sorry, my mind was somewhere else!"

"So I've noticed," Riku says as he banishes his keyblade, "mind telling me where it was?"

Sora's own keyblade disappears and he pastes on his usually carefree grin as he scratches the back of his head, "just...thinking about what we're gonna do about the upcoming war is all."

"Really?" Riku crosses his arms and raises a brow, "aren't you the one who says that everything will be alright?"

"Well yeah," Sora says, "doesn't mean I don't worry. Especially since Xehanort..." he trails off, looking away from Riku to the ground. Riku growls low in his throat but when Sora looks up again Riku still has the same cool expression he always has.

"I wouldn't have let that happen Sora, and even if Xehanort did manage to do it, your heart's too strong." He puts a hand on Sora's shoulder, "you always have your friends to pull you back. Me, Kairi, Donald and Goofy, King Mickey... we'll always be there to bring you back."

Riku smiles in assurance, causing Sora to smile as well, "you're right," Sora concedes. Riku nods and the smile turns into the usual cocky grin.

"Aren't I always?"

Sora pretends to think about it, "weeeeell, there was that one time-" Riku smacks him on the back of the head, giving him a playful glare which causes Sora to laugh. Riku rolls his eyes,

"Whatever dummy."

They walk back inside just as the sun comes up, in good spirits as the other residence of the tower begin to stir and prepare for the day. Though Riku is right in that Sora's friends would always be there for him, there is still a little niggling in the back of his mind. Even if Riku thinks that Sora's heart is strong, Sora isn't so sure of that himself. And he off times wondered, would his friends still stay by his side when they found out how weak it really was?

 **.o.0.o.**

 **Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this! This is my First Kingdom Hearts story and I hope to see how it goes! I need to warn you of some things though, so you can decide whether or not you want to continue reading.**

 **1\. There will be OOC (Out Of Character) moments in this, especially for Sora. I just can't see him acting all cheery and smily without it being a facade more often than not. He's not stupid, he has gone through some shit and he's only human. Riku's not the only one and he shouldn't be in my opinion. If you don't like this, then this story is not for you.**

 **2\. If you came here expecting people to hook up, you will be greatly disappointed. Sora and Riku are close, as well as Axel/Lea and Roxas, but there's nothing "official". You can take it as Romantic or platonic if you'd like though! (Just like the games, am I right? xD)**

 **3\. This is a Canon Divergance or "Altered Universe" Story that takes place between Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts Three. Not everything is like the games, but there will be spoilers for most of the games in this. If you haven't played the games, read the novels, or at least watched the cutsceens somewhere and don't want to be spoiled, then either do that first and come back, or don't read at all.**

 **Okay! I think that covers it! Any additional warnings will be at the top of the chapter when needed. If you have any questions or critisms, let me know! Flames are like water off of Donald Duck's back for me, but please be polite? We can all be civil here hm? :)**

 **I hope you all have a fantastic day!**

 **~Sorceress**


	2. The voice

**A/N An update so soon? My, what's the occassion? Nothing in partulicular, I Just decided to update early rather than wait two weeks like I planned. That itch just needed to be scratched god damn it!**

 **So enjoy, and thank you for reading! I'll see you all again this saturday!**

 **Warnings: OOC moment for Sora, if you'd like to take it that way. The title of this chapter is there for a reason...**

 **.o.0.o.**

The day goes on like normal, with Lea asking Sora to spar with him and Sora agreeing to it, if just for the sake of getting his mind off the dark thoughts that slowly began plaguing his mind.

Sora acts like he always does: all smiles, encouragement and optimistic attitude, but every once in a while, a dark voice would hiss in the back of his mind, dampening his mood that much more until the smiles become a mask, the upbeat demeanor an act. It feels, without means of a better word, like a shadow is hanging over him. Telling him to enjoy this while it lasts, that soon they would look at him with fear and hatred like the heartless that he fought with such vigor. Sora would shake it off and tell the voice that it was wrong, but it was getting to be hard sometimes.

As Sora spars, he and Lea lock blades and begin a contest of wills. Sora focuses on pushing Lea back when that same sibilate voice enters his head again.

 ** _"He may be holding back, but soon he will come at you with force. He will destroy you without batting an eye."_**

'You're wrong. Lea's my friend; he would never do that to me.'

 ** _"Oh?"_** The voice snickers, **_"But weren't you the one who took his precious Roxas away?"_** Sora falters, **_"Do you really think that just because he got his heart back that he's forgiven you? He kidnapped you're dear friend, he tried to kill you before to get him back. What makes you think he isn't still trying to now?"_**

With that thought swimming through his head, Sora is unprepared when Lea unleashes a surprise attack, flames dancing along his keyblade and at his feet. Sora screams in terror and leaps away, dropping his keyblade in his fright. Lea releases his own keyblade in surprise, the flames diminishing.

"Sora! Are you-" He takes a step closer, trying to help his friend. Sora lashes at him without thinking, his fingernails raking Lea's face and leaving red marks.

The two keyblade wielders stare at each other; Lea in shock that Sora scratched him, Sora in horror for doing it. Sora jumps to his feet, hands clapping together as he begins apologizing. Lea waved him off.

"It's cool, you obviously got something on your mind. I didn't really help with trying to sneak that move in on you like that."

"No it's not cool, I just scratched you! I-I don't even know why-!"

"No harm done." Lea interrupts shrugging Sora's hurried excuses off with a smirk, "Just means I'm allowed to get you back; got it memorized?"

Before Sora can reply to that, Donald, Goofy and Riku run up to the training grounds.

"Sora! Master Yen Sid wants us to go to a new world!" Donald shouts.

"A new world?" Sora echoes, "What's it supposed to be like?" He asks, deciding to get down to business.

We don't know exactly," Goofy says rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Master Yen Sid just told us to check it out an' see if there are any heartless there."

Sora agrees and they head towards the gummy ship. As they fly off to the new world, Sora can't help but think about what that voice said. It was right, in a way. Since Sora accepted Roxas back into his heart, Lea had tried to get him back by any means when he was still Axel.

Sora wasn't blind, he had seen the looks Lea would give him. Those green eyes swimming with pain and shoulders slumped, it is one of the reasons why Sora wants to find a way to get Roxas to have his own body again. From the memories the blond had given him, Sora knew Roxas deserved it. Roxas and Axel were really close and Sora felt like he was an obstacle for their happiness.

He would do anything to remedy that.

 ** _"Anything huh?"_** Sora groaned when the voice came back. He felt Riku looking at him and gave the silveret a reassuring smile before turning to look out the window of the gummi ship.

 ** _"Fine words given to those who don't deserve it."_**

"Roxas and Lea deserve happiness, Organization XIII put them through enough." Sora retorts, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn't hear him talking to himself.

 ** _"Really,"_** The voice says mockingly, **_"When both have tried to destroy you just so they can be together? If it were me, I would have given them both a proper ending. One that involves me feasting on what organs they have left."_**

A shiver went through Sora and his hands draw into fists on his knees. He tries so hard to think that shiver was from disgust. "I'm not you." He whispers.

The voice chuckles, **_"You may believe as you wish, for now..."_** The voice purrs before it goes silent. Sora keeps his eyes fixated on the window, trying to shake off the feeling of foreboding.

Somewhere in the universe, a skinny woman with grey skin dressed in a lab coat cackles as she holds up a vile of pink liquid, "at last! I've done it! A potion to release the darkness from hearts!"

"Are you sure this will work?" A woman with green skin dressed in all black with horns steps out of the shadows, narrow yellow eyes gazing at the bottle in mild curiosity.

"Of coarse it will! All I have to do is test it and you will see that it does!" The woman grins evilly, "and, I have the perfect test subject! HAHAHA!!! It's brrrrrilliant!"

"Just so long as it gets me what I want, it matters not to me what you do with it," the cloaked woman says coldly causing the other to glare at her.

"It will work! I've done my calculations perfectly! Anyone who takes this will become the very definition of darkness! Trust my work Maleficent."

"As you say, Yzma." And with that, Maleficent vanishes.

"You know, I don't think that we should-"

"Oh, shut it Krunk."

"Okay."


	3. Meeting the Head Villager

**New chapter up, right on schedule this time! Thank you to all those who gave me such positive feedback for this story! You are beautiful people! Well, you've all been waiting, so here's the first new world!**

 **Warnings: Some _slight_ out of character here, but it's not Sora this time. Quick summery for Emperor's New Groove.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Emperor's New Groove, that belongs to Disney (I believe) and whomever came up with the idea and worked on it. I'm simply borrowing the world in order to advance the plot of this story a little. There is no profit in this, just entertainment.**

 **.o.0.o.**

Our four heroes arrive at their destination and begin scoping out the area. It reminds them a bit of the jungle from Tarzan's world, only muckier in some places and at some points they ended up having to beat a bunch of scorpions off of Donald and pull Goofy out of a pool of quicksand. Sora stands in one place and observes a bug on a tree branch in bemusement, only for a chimp to come by and eat it.

"Asides for a bunch of death traps, this world doesn't seem to have much," Riku states snapping Sora out of his trance, "I don't see why Yen Sid wanted us to come here."

"I'll say," agrees Donald crossly, still shaken from the scorpions.

Sora disagrees, "I do feel like something's here, if we look around for people we might come across something."

"Sora, we're in the middle of a jungle," Riku counters, "Unless it's the same situation as Jane's, we aren't-"

"Say, that statue sure looks perty neat!"

Sora and Riku stop arguing and look at where Goofy is pointing. Up on a high hill is what looks like the face of a statue, with the mouth forming a doorway and some curtains skirting the pathways.

"There could be people there," Sora points out, one side of his mouth tilting up in a smug fashion. Riku sighs and simply starts heading towards it without saying a word, the others following silently behind.

They pass through a village on the way that has no people in sight, which concerns Sora as he looks around at the huts, 'why wouldn't there be villagers around?' He thinks frowning slightly. The huts look to be in good shape, there is even a game of chess set up, but not a soul is there. The group decides to see what is going on, hoping that if there was a problem that they weren't too late to help.

They knock on several doors, they even hear people moving around in the homes but no one answers their door. They reach the house on the highest hill and knock, not really expecting an answer which is why they are surprised when a woman with large earrings and an orange dress opens the door.

She eyes them all suspiciously before saying slowly, "can I help you?"

Riku pulls himself together first and says politely, "yes ma'am, we were wondering if you could tell us what's going on?"

The woman eyeballs Donald and Goofy, "how do I know you're not with the Emperor?"

"Emperor?" They all give her confused looks.

The woman sighs and opens the door a little wider, "guess that answers that. Come in, I'll get my husband; he's the head villager."

The four follow her and stand slightly awkward in the living area as the woman goes further into the house, "Pachu! We have visitors!"

"Visitors?" A gruff yet pleasant voice answers back. A large man in a green pancho walks in and gives the group an odd look, especially Donald and Goofy who are standing behind the two boys. "If they're here to see if I can help them turn back to normal then I'm afraid I can't help them," he says sadly.

"Normal?" Sora asks slightly bewildered. Pachu wrinkles his brow.

"Didn't Yzma use some kind of potion on your two friends here?" He gestures to the two anthropomorphic animals.

Sora's eyes widen in realization and he laughs, saying without thinking, "no! They've always been like this!"

"SORA!" The other three cry out with Riku elbowing the brunet in the ribs.

"What?!" He grunts, rubbing his side while glaring at the silveret.

Pachu suddenly chuckles causing the group to look at him. Pacha waves off the curious expressions and gives them a warm half smile, "it's alright, it's just that any talking animals I've been in contact with usually used to be humans that Yzma had gotten to."

"No one's really noticed before, oddly enough," Riku mutters loud enough for only Sora to hear him. Sora covers his mouth and snickers, shaking his head a bit in a way that says, 'don't worry about it, it's not a big deal.'

Pachu waves them over to the furniture, sitting down himself with a polite smile, "as you know, my name's Pachu and that's my wife Chicha." He motions over to the woman who had let them in. She waves kindly before going over to a basin to wash dishes, "what brings you to our humble home?" Pachu asks.

"We were kinda wondering why the village seems dead, no offence," Sora grins sheepishly.

Pachu's smile falls and he sighs tiredly, "no offence taken. If you must know, everyone here is hiding from the emperor."

"Is the emperor bad?" Goofy asks worriedly. Pachu shakes his head.

"He wasn't always like that. Sure he's a spoiled brat at times, but I really thought he'd changed for the better. Guess I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" Sora says.

"You see, a while back I got called to the palace to see him. His royal advisor at the time, Yzma, tried to poison him and he ended up being turned into a llama. I went to save him and we managed to beat her and change him back."

Pacha huffs and clasps his hands in his lap, gazing down at the ground with a frown, "he said he was going to turn over a new leaf, he even started treating the villagers better. But a few days ago," he shakes his head, "he's become a tyrant. Several innocent people have been thrown into the dungeons for no good reason. He even hired Yzma back as his advisor."

Pachu looks up at the travellers, giving them a hard look, "I know Kuzco's got some good in him, I've seen it. I keep trying to convince myself that Yzma did something to him, but..." Pachu takes off his hat and runs his hands through his shaggy hair, "most of it isn't Yzma. It's Kuzco ordering these people into the dungeons, Kuzco giving out these outrageous laws, Kuzco-" the large man grimaces, unable to continue.

The four boys glance at each other before Sora looks back at Pachu, determination flashing in his deep blue eyes, "We'll get to the bottom of this Pachu, don't worry."

Pachu's eyes widen in astonishment and the sound of a dish breaking by the sink echo's through the room. Both husband and wife look gob smacked at Sora who shrinks down slightly at the gazes.

"Heheh, what? Is it something I said?" He wonders scratching his cheek uncomfortably.

"You'd really do that?" Pacha asks standing from his chair.

Sora grins, lifting his shoulders slightly, "well yeah, if you say that this just started happening not too long ago then their must be a reason for it right?" He looks to his friends for confirmation.

Riku nods, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder, "we'll help you out, this Kuzco guy's supposed to be your friend right? Something must have happened and we need to figure out what." Donald and Goofy nod at their sides.

The boys suddenly find themselves enveloped in a bone crushing hug, "oh thank you so much! We owe you!" Chicha exclaims as she pulls away from the now blushing boys.

"You really don't have to-" Riku starts.

"Nonsense!" Pachu says, a real smile on his face, "Anything you guys need you just ask! In fact," he goes to the door, "you guys don't know your way around right? Let me show you to the palace, it's just a days walk away."

"You can just tell us how to get there, it'll be faster if we run," Sora reasons, smiling apologetically.

Pachu looks unsure, but he must have figured that Sora had a point so he simply told them the directions and let them on their way, waving goodbye to them as they went.

At said palace, a young man dressed in blood red robes lined in gold sits in a massive gold throne and gazes out on to the empty room in sheer boredom. Two guards painted in red and blue enter, dragging a frail old man between them. They throw the poor man infront of the throne and black eyes flick down to the trembling elder indifferently.

"What do you have to report peasant?" The young man says in a cold voice that has never been heard before from him by the villager. The old man grabs his blue hat off his head and rings it between his hands nervously, eyes carefully fixed on the floor.

"W-well y-y-your highness, there seems to be some t-t-travelers in strange clothing that have a-appeared from the neighboring jungles," he stutters.

The young man on the throne hums in thought, "go on?"

The elder shivers under the dark gaze, "t-th-they seem to be coming to the palace from one of the villages, y-your holiness."

The room becomes silent as the occupants await Emperor Kuzco's verdict. A cruel smirk spreads across the usually handsome features.

"Let them come. It's about time I got some entertainment."


	4. Confrontation and Temptation

**Hello everyone! thanks for all the love you've given this story so far! Now I don't wanna keep you waiting with my ramblings, so here's the next chapter of Darkness within Light!**

 **Warnings: Some creepy dialogue and Sora not quite acting like himself at one point. Cliffhanger warning, but I can't bring myself to be sorry since I believe it necessary.**

 **.o.0.o.**

Even as they ran all the way, the sky is just getting dark when the group of heroes make it to the palace. They hide behind the wall and watch as bulky blue and red guards with stoic faces march in front of the entrance.

"There doesn't seem to be a lot of guards," Sora whispers.

"A couple of guards out here doesn't mean there aren't going to be more inside." Riku looks around the outside of the building until he sees a window that seems accessable, "I'll head in and check it out."

"What about if ya' get caught while yer lookin'?" Goofy asks.

"In all likelihood you'll know if I get caught." Riku deadpans. He jumps up to the window (that any normal human wouldn't be able to reach) and climbs inside.

He leans out the window and says just loud enough to be heard by the trio below, "if you don't hear anything in fifteen minutes then follow me in."

"If we _do_ hear anything we'll follow you in anyway," Sora retorts crossing his arms with a defiant frown.

Riku chuckles but doesn't comment. He pulls his head back through the window, leaving the brunet and disney king's servants behind.

Seven minutes in and Sora is growing impatient, "come on guys, let's just go in!"

"Just eight more minutes, Sora," says Donald rolling his eyes.

"How do you know? You don't have a watch!"

Donald pulls a watch and chain from god knows where and gives Sora a deadpan expression.

"...That doesn't count," Sora says crossing his arms and glaring childishly at the white duck.

"Gee Sora, I know yer' antsy, but we gotta wait a bit more," Goofy says watching as the blue eyed boy fidgets, "what's got you so worked up?"

"I'm just wanting to help Pachu as soon as possible," Sora replies as his eyes dart around, "the empire doesn't need to hide in fear of their ruler if we can do something about it."

"Just wait a bit more Sora, the world isn't gonna end in six minutes," Donald says.

It hurts him to lie to his friends, but he couldn't very well tell the truth now could he?

 ** _"You smell it don't you?"_** The dark voice purrs, **_"the delectable darkness? There are heartless here and I know you want to taste them."_**

"Shut. Up." Sora hisses through clenched teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. Donald and Goofy look at him curiously but don't say anything.

 ** _"Why resist?"_** The voice goads, **_"I know you remember it; that delectable crunch; the thrill of cutting through them like they are nothing but thin paper; the squeaking noises they make when they fade..."_** the whispers feel like they're right next to his ear now, **_"showing them who the true predator is..."_**

'Shut up...'

 ** _"Letting your true instincts and urges out as you rip and tear and rend their black none flesh..."_**

'Shut. up!'

 ** _"I'll bet you still remember their taste too! Like hickory smoked meat and darkness, their little yellow eyes were the best part too...sweet as honey...'_**

Sora clenches his hands and teeth, accidently biting the inside of his cheek and getting a taste of copper on his tongue as pain shoots into his palms from biting nails.

Yes he remembers. Despite what he's told his friends he remembered being in that haze to some extent. The freedom he'd felt, the thrill of being able to tear anything and everything apart with his bare hands. The overflowing strength and numbness from pain and fear; and the taste...oh great Kingdom Hearts the taste...

Sora feels saliva pool in his mouth and swallows painfully, squeezing his eyes tighter in an attempt to block out the want. The need to get that dark thrill, that taste again.

"Sora!"

He feels someone shaking his shoulder and his eyes snap open to look upon the worried faces of his friends. Sora mentally pushes away the feelings and voice, giving Donald and Goofy a smile, though it looks more like a grimace, "I'm okay guys, sorry for spacing out like that."

Donald raises a brow at him in suspicion before shaking his head, "come on Sora, let's go."

Sora is the first to get through the window, followed by Goofy and lastly Donald who didn't quite make the jump as smoothly and had to get help from the others to get through.

They come face to face with black heartless with sun disk shaped heads and Incan warrior garb. Sora summons his keyblade and charges, whacking at heartless several times until they disappear. He tries to ignore the thrill he always gets during battle and actually focus on the mission at hand. They run through the palace halls, destroying heartless every once in a while andand taking down a guard or two, when Sora begins to wonder where Riku has gone.

They make it to a couple of huge doors, maybe half the size of the doors to the throne room in Disney Castle, and prepare to barge in when they hear voices on the other side. Sora holds up a hand to stop the others and presses his ear up to the door.

"So this is what's happened to you. You let darkness enter your heart."

"What do you care? This ain't your world."

'That sounds like Riku,' Sora thinks listening carefully, 'the other voice though...is that the emperor?'

"So you want to be like this?"

"Hey, I'm the Emperor, I always get what I want. And what I want right now is for you to leave my empire. Go on, shoo."

"And what if I said no?"

Sora tenses, waiting for the pin to drop.

"And what does a kid like you think you can do? I have the power here." The emperor says threateningly.

Sora takes this moment to throw open the door and walk in, "we can get rid of the darkness in your heart!" He proclaims.

"Sora!" Riku grins widely.

Kuzco does not look as pleased, "another peasant? For the love of me, they're like roaches aren't they?" He shakes his head and rubs the bridge of his nose, acting as if he can't understand why they are bothering him.

"Why don't worry your highness, I can handle this."

Yzma steps out, large tooth baring grin on her face and Sora reacts without thinking, "OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?! IS THAT A DUSK OR SOMETHING???"

Riku snorts even as he closes his eyes with a grimace, "no, I don't think she's a dusk. But she sure is..." he tries to think of a word for it.

"Ugly beyond all reason?" Sora supplies.

"Yeah that."

They suddenly hear a bark of laughter and look towards the throne to see a chortling Kuzco holding his stomach. Yzma rolls her eyes in annoyance, "are you quite done your highness?"

"No! No wait give me a sec," Kuzco gasps waving her off. He wipes a tear from his eye and sighs, "that's exactly what I said a while back! Man, you're funny kid."

"Uh, thanks?" Sora replies slowly, looking slightly off-put.

"Yes yes, ha ha, loads of chuckles," Yzma cuts in with aggravation, "now, how about this?" She pulls down the front of her dress with a smile.

"My eyes! Riku help!" Sora exclaims covering said eyes while Riku pulls him into his chest and looks away.

"WAHWAKWAKWAK!!!"

"Garsh!" Both Donald and Goofy cover their eyes as well. Even Kuzco screws his eyes shut and looks away.

Yzma rolls her eyes again and reaches into her dress to pull out a little vial. Riku peeks before sighing, "False alarm."

Everyone breaths a sigh of relief, causing Yzma to roll her eyes yet _again_ with a

huff before tossing the vial in the air. The bottle flips a couple and starts heading towards Riku.

"Riku look out!" Sora shoves the silveret out of the way and takes the full brunt of the potion, the bottle shattering on the ground by his feet and a pink cloud rising up.

"Sora!"

Sora coughs and hacks, the mist receding to show him to be perfectly fine. Kuzco raises a brow and leans towards Yzma, "uhhh, was that supposed to do something?" He whispers.

Yzma chuckles, the grin never leaving her face, "Oh it did something, nothing that need worry you, Highness."

Shaking off the scare, the four prepare for battle. Yzma summons a swarm of heartless and they lunge at the quartet. Sora and Riku handle a large cluster of them while Donald and Goofy offer support when needed. After finishing off the last wave, Riku raises his keyblade and a bright light shoots towards the emperor, hitting him in the chest. Kuzco yells, his eyes flashing yellow before he passes out, a black smog rising from his form.

"Well, this was anti-climactic," Yzma says, face blank. The four heroes slowly approach her, weapons at the ready and Yzma bolts, laughing all the way.

"You may have defeated me, but I always get the last laugh! AAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

Sora moves to follow but a groan makes him halt in his tracks. He turns and heads towards the throne, ignoring the cries of his friends to be careful.

"Your highness, are you-" He puts a hand on Kuzco's shoulder only for it to get smacked away.

Sora jumps back as the emperor jolts into a sitting position, hands waving in front of him, "No touch-y! Emperor does not like being touched!"

"Oops, sorry your highness, are you alright?" Sora asks his eyes sweeping the Emperor for any injuries.

"Aside from a bad dream and a nasty taste in my mouth, I'm fine." Kuzco blearily opens his eyes, focusing in on the brunet. "Who are you by the way?"

After introducing themselves and explaining what happened, Kuzco begins walking back and forth in front of the throne, hands behind his back and hunched forward slightly, "Oh no, what am I gonna do? None of my people are going to trust me now..."

"You could start by freeing the people from the dungeons and giving the villagers back their money," Riku suggests. Kuzco snaps his fingers,

"I got it! I'll just free the prisoners and give the villagers back there money! I'm a genius!"

"But-" Riku pauses for a moment be before shrugging, "great idea your highness. Wish we could stick around to help, but we have to leave."

"What? Come on guys I owe you one for saving my royal butt! At least stay for the party!"

Sora shakes his head and says apologetically, "sorry Emperor Kuzco, maybe some other time."

They left the palace, stopping at the village on the way to their ship to tell the people the news and once again declining any offers to stay. They didn't want to be rude, but they had to go back to Yen Sid's tower as soon as possible to see if the potion Sora got hit with had any ill effects, so they can prepare if anything happens.

As the gummy ship launches for home, Sora decides that it would be a good idea to take a nap in the back rooms. He usually couldn't get comfortable enough for longer than a couple of hours, so he is least likely to dream at that time. He doesn't realize how wrong he is though...


	5. Promise me

**Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter! Now, originally it wasn't going to turn out this way, but I felt that the way it went before was too fast so I added more. This is an original world of my own, one I had in my brain long before this story came about. I tried getting a disney world, but I couldn't do any of the movies I thought of justice, so this is the result.**

 **Oh! Before I forget, if any of you noticed the long review, don't let it bother you too much please? I never got a review like that, but if anybody is worried about me then don't worry; I'm not bothered by it, so please don't let it bother you. Just enjoy the story, which I made for fun and for people's enjoyment okay?**

 **Let's get this show on the road!**

 **.o.0.o.**

 ** _"You can't escape fate..."_**

 _Sora, once again a young child, sits trembling as the older blonde boy who is Roxas yet at the same time isn't holds him close, shielding the young keyblade wielder as he glares into the darkness around them._

 ** _"He can't protect you forever...he fell to the darkness once too..."_**

 _The blonde boy holds Sora tighter, the glare darking on his face as eyes the same color as Sora and Roxas' snap in warning. The boy doesn't say anything, he never does, preferring to speak with his body and his eyes. Sora knows that this boy would protect him to the best of his ability, but what if he no longer could?_

 ** _"The world is a terrifying place...your light a weak and fragile thing...your friends don't truly care about you Sora..."_**

 _"Lies!" Sora snaps before hiding his face in the other boy's chest, he feels a hand rub his back in comfort._

 _The voice laughs and even with his eyes shut, Sora can see a wide grin with sharp teeth and golden eyes mocking him._ **_"How about you open your eyes!"_** _The voice drops real low and Sora shivers at the feeling of something hissing in his ear._

 ** _"Remember what you are, what you allowed yourself to unleash. You are the very thing of nightmares, the very thing your so called 'friends' seek to destroy. And yes, even your precious best friend who you care so much about."_**

 _"Liar!" Sora screams._

 ** _"What am I lying about?"_** _The thing teases,_ **_"The fact that your dear dream eater friend will destroy you for the monster that you now are? Or the fact that you care about him so much and refuse to admit it in you ignorance?"_**

 _"SHUT UP!!!!!"_

"Sora! Sora wake up!"

Sora jolts awake to Riku shaking him, worried seaglass eyes locking on to terrified ocean blue. Without thinking Sora wraps his arms around Riku, almost strangling him with his vice like grip. Riku automatically puts his own arms around him, sitting on the cot next to him and rocking him a little like one would a frightened child. Which at this moment Sora is.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Riku runs his hand over Sora's back soothingly, his brow wrinkled, "You were screaming in your sleep, are you alright?"

"You won't ever hurt me, will you?" Sora asks, surprising Riku as he presses his face into the crook of the silveret's neck, "Even if something happens, even if...if I become a heartless again?"

"Where did this come from all of a sudden?" Riku wonders as he pulls away to look at Sora's face. His worry grows when he sees the brunet on the verge of tears, desperation making him look so much younger than the happy-go-lucky sixteen year old he knows.

"Just promise, no matter what happens, you won't hurt or abandon me. Please Riku..."

Riku's face softens and he brings Sora back into another hug, fingers tangling into the chocolate brown strands at the base of Sora's neck. He closes his eyes and says as much for his own peace of mind as well as his friends,

"I promise."

 **.o.0.o.**

"There doesn't seem to be any effects from the potion," Master Yen Sid says as he waves a magic charged hand over Sora's body.

"So you're saying it's a dud?" Lea asks from his position by the door.

"Not necessarily," Yen Sid replies, "A potion always has some use, the maker wouldn't make a potion for no purpose. Even if it was for distraction, it would have some effects."

"So what do we do?" Kairi, Sora's other best friend with blue eyes and hair a slightly darker shade of red than Lea's inquires in concern.

Yen Sid sighs and stands straight, Sora rising from the cot he has been laying on for the duration of the scan, "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do now except to keep an eye on him for the time being. Until we figure out if that potion really was nothing, we must be cautious."

"Well, I don't feel any different," Sora says, plastering a big grin on his face to try to dispel the tension, "Pachu said something about Yzma's potions turning people into animals; not something I haven't gone through before."

"Yeah, but that was at your own free will," Riku pointed out.

Sora stands, "guys, I'm fine! Nothing's wrong!" He insists, waving off the troubled looks, "now what's to eat? I'm starved!"

Everyone relaxes at the familiar attitude and laughs, following Sora as they head to the dining room for dinner.

'Good,' Sora thinks, making a show of laughing at a joke of Goofy's, 'they don't need to worry about it. Besides, it probably really is nothing.'

In a dark corner of the boys mind, a place that is beginning to get darker as time goes by, a pair of sulfur yellow eyes flash as the being in the darkness chuckles.

 ** _"Believe what you will little light, but soon it will be my time to shine..."_**

 **.o.0.o.**

A few days later, Sora, Donald and Goofy get told to go to another new world, landing in what looks like a large open meadow with flowers and a large lake. When Sora steps off the ship, he feels the magic in his clothes change him to match the people of the world, though he notices he doesn't look any different from normal. He sees something out of the corner of his eye and turns his head to see a brown tail swishing behind him.

"Huh?!"

Sora starts spinning in place, thinking his eyes are deceiving him and finds that, nope, he does have a tail here. Sora has been a lion cub before, so the tail- and ears, judging from the flicking feeling on his head- are no surprise that way; just the fact that he still looks and feels very much human.

He hears Donald make a startled squawk and looks to see what's wrong. Donald is a blue and white bird and Goofy is a tortoise, same as when they go to the pride lands, so at least the world is somewhat similar in that regard.

"Ahyuck, well I'll be, the people in this world sure are somethin'." Goofy comments, taking in Sora's new appendages.

Sora scratches the back of his head, grinning wryly and showing a set of slightly sharper than normal canines. He drops his hand and looks around, taking in the scenery, "This place is almost as pretty as Radiant Garden, but I don't see any heartless here."

"Don't let that fool ya' Sora," warns Donald, "they could be hiding anywhere."

The brunet glances in the direction of the jungle, "well, we can't wait for them to come to us, so we might as well start exploring!" He let's a big grin spread across his face and marches into the jungle, his friends following behind at a more cautious pace.

A pair of slitted emerald green eyes watches as they enter the jungle, snickers coming from the creature watching them before it trails slowly after them.


	6. Big Cat Magic

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot, this world and any oc's that come along. Sora, Donald and Goofy belong to Square Enix and Disney Interactive. This chapter has officially been disclaimed, and I hope you enjoy reading! :)**

 **.o.0.o.**

As the trio treks through what feels like miles of jungle, Sora can't help but feel like they're being watched. When he focuses his senses on it, the feeling isn't like that of a heartless, but that doesn't make the feeling anymore uncomfortable. He keeps quiet about it, not wanting to worry Donald and Goofy; that doesn't mean he isn't on high alert though.

They get to a watering hole and decide to take a break. Sora looks into the water, wanting to see the changes to his person, and sees that his nose is flatter and more catlike, round ears reminiscent to his lion form twitch on his head in curiosity, his blue eyes seem to glow and his pupils are slightly elongated. His mouth is somewhat shaped like a cat's as well, though it is slightly wider and still retains the look of a human's mouth somewhat, a little black line connecting his upper lip to his nose and giving the impression of a split lip.

The longer he stays on this world, the more cat like features he gets; the brunet has had to discard his shoes because his toenails had grown longer and sharper making wearing them uncomfortable, he notices that he has a tendency to walk on his toes, he has to watch clenching his hands and biting his lip because of claws and sharp teeth respectively.

He can't help but wonder if the natives to this world look the same. If they do, it should be a very interesting world indeed.

His senses are sharper in this world too he notices; just by focusing he can smell the clean water in the lagoon, the flowers and grass from the meadow they landed in. He finds he can see farther than normal, if he had to take a guess he could see one-hundred feet ahead of him clearly, he can see things in the shadows of the jungle, which causes both comfort and unease in his mind because of his paranoia. He also has a kind of heightened sixth sense so to speak.

Since he's barefoot, he seems to have an uncanny ability to step where he won't get anything unpleasant in or on his feet, it also explains how he feels like they're being observed, even though Donald and Goofy don't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Even now, he feels eyes on them, studying them.

Sora decides he's had enough of this feeling and stands, looking around at the foliage before calling out in a firm voice, "if you wanna attack us, you should face us head on, don't hide like a coward."

"Sora?" Inquires Donald, looking at the brunet in confusion before letting a startled quack when a bubbly laugh echoes around them.

"I was wondering when you'd call me out! You have the makings of a hunter you do!"

The leaves to their left rustle and a woman of maybe eighteen or nineteen appears, flipping her golden hair over her shoulder as emerald green eyes glow in amusement. She wears a tan dress, looking to be made of some kind of animal skin, with her own skin lightly kissed by the sun like Sora's. She puts a hand on her hip and gives the three boys a once over, her pupils narrowing into slits as she pays special attention to Sora. The boy blushes and fidgets a bit at the intense gaze.

"Hm...you're a lion aren't you?" She rubs her chin as she begins circling them, "the question remains though; are you an Arcanian, or a Cattagarian?"

"A what and a who now?" Sora asks, furrowing his brow.

The woman rolls her eyes, "you obviously aren't from around here if you don't even know what your species is!" She stops infront of him and leans until she's almost nose to nose with the blue eyed boy, "in lay-man's terms: are you more animal, or human?"

" ** _You would know the answer to that little light~"_** the dark voice in Sora's head purrs. Sora ignores it.

"I'm pretty sure I'm more human," he answers, trying to sound confident.

The woman narrows her eyes, "Hmm, if that's true, why are you in Cattagarian territory?"

Sora hasn't anything to say to that, "Uh...um..." he feels as if he should be sweating from this interogation, but instead begins panting heavily and pulling at his collar. The woman suddenly leans back and gaffaws, startling the nervous keyblade wielder.

"Ghaha! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone!" She says, grinning big, "you really shouldn't be out here by yourself though, I can tell you now, a cockatiel and tortoise ain't gonna help ya'!" She motions to Donald and Goofy.

"Hey!" Donald ruffles his feathers indignantly, "we've helped Sora more than you know!"

"So your name's Sora huh?" She says, ignoring the rest of Donald's protest, "I'm Solar, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Uh, likewise," Sora greets, a little off put by Solar's rollercoaster demeanor. 'She kinda reminds me of Yuffie, at least in attitude anyway,' he thinks before giving her a hesitant smile as he introduces Donald and Goofy, "you wouldn't have happened to noticed anything weird going on here though?"

Solar tilts her head, "weird?" She giggles, "you guys are the only weird things I've seen!"

"I mean like, moving shadows and stuff like that," Sora elaborates, waving his hands in emphasis.

Solar frowns in thought, thinking for a minute before shaking her head, "no, I don't think I have. A lot of things move in the shadows here, so it's not unusual," at Sora's tired sigh, she grins again.

"Buuut, I'm pretty sure my sister might have seen something! She does tend to see things I don't."

Sora perks up at that, 'maybe this won't be a total waste after all!' "Can we meet her?" He says aloud.

Solar laughs, "Of course! But the village is a long ways away, we won't get there before nightfall on just two legs!" Seeing the inquiry in the trio's faces, she frowns again, "wait, are you telling me you can't turn into your lion? Even most Arcadians can turn into their cub form and they're born as humans."

Deciding not to ask what she means by that, Sora simply shakes his head, giving her an apologetic smile. Solar huffs, "so I guess I have to teach you huh? Alright..."

She crouches down on her fingers and toes, surprising the boys, "get down on all fours, this is how I was taught."

Sora copies her, finding the position both natural and uncomfortable for reasons he _really_ doesn't want to think about right now.

Solar nods and begins walking around on all fours, her movements graceful, "now, do whatever feels natural, feel the big cat under your skin," she coaches.

Sora begins mirroring her movements, trying his best to think of his lion form and not a certain other form that he's moved like this with. He feels something rippling under his skin, the feeling strange and unfamiliar yet somehow not at the same time. He feels his heart pounding a mile a minute in his chest; he's not sure if that's good or not.

"Now, the first image that comes to your head, latch on to it..." Solar continues, her voice becoming rough and sounding more like a growl rather than the high melodic tones she had before.

Sora pictures what he looked like in Simba's world, the image shifting to suit his older self and feels the hair on his body stand on end. He squeezes his eyes shut as his joints and tendons pop and shift almost painfully, rearranging themselves to accommodate the new form Sora wants. His body temperature fluctuates between burning hot and freezing cold, giving him no time to adjust.

"My my, you're a natural."

Sora opens his eyes, meeting the emerald green of a beautiful gold cat...or at least he thinks it's a cat, it's kind of bigger than what he's used to. He turns his head and sees his two friends with their mouths agape, their eyes darting between the gold cat and himself. He looks at his reflection in the water again and finds himself gazing at his lion form, with a wild brown mane resembling his normal spikes framing his head instead of a tuft on the top of it.

'I'll have to go back to the pride lands sometime and show Simba and the others,' He thinks, smiling as much as he can in this form and feeling his tail swish back and forth in excitement.

"Done admiring yourself yet? It's going to get dark soon, not really a good idea to be out here in the dark."

Sora turns and gives a nod to Solar, feeling his adrenaline pumping at the prospect of running through the jungle. The gold cat nods and takes off at a fast pace, Sora's paws beating the dirt as he run to try and keep up, vaguely hearing Donald and Goofy's shouts to wait up as they begin their trek to a more certain destination.

 **.o.0.o.**

 **I know, it seems like a filler chapter, I promise though, things will get interesting in this world as the story continues. A lot of the stuff here was too important in information for me to give up and keep having it make sense. *sweats***

 **Anyway, Thanks to everyone who decided to give this story a chance and read it, and I'll see you guys in the next update okay? :)**

 **~Sorceress**


	7. Meeting the tribe

**Warnings: Nothing really, though you might want to read closely; there's foreshadowing here for the next chapter so strong it will smack you in the face with a sledgehammer.**

 **Disclaimer: I own this world and any ocs that come up. The rest however, are owned by Yen Sid spelled backwards, and Square Enix.**

 **.o.0.o.**

Sora enjoys the feeling of the wind whipping through his fur, the freedom of bouncing from tree to tree. Solar is jumping off of rocks and tree branches, giving herself a height advantage as she keeps ahead of the brown lion. Donald and Goofy are barely keeping up with the two big cats, Donald having to help the dog turned tortoise when they reach a steep incline.

When the trees abruptly end, Sora has to keep himself from skidding into a shack. When he looks around, he sees at least a dozen brown shacks, with one in the back of the clearing being larger than the the others. He hears Solar snickering behind him and sends up a glare at the gold cat. Donald and Goofy manage to break into the clearing at this time, pausing to catch their breath after trying to keep up with them.

The trio look around at the the people walking around, all wearing different colored skins from unknown animals. There also seems to be a few big cat walking around, though Sora now knows that they are also villagers and not simply pets. He hears Solar growl as a massive tiger glances at them and begins stalking up to the heroes.

"I do not recognize this one, where are you from cub?" The tiger says in a gravelly voice.

"None of your business Kova," Solar snarls. She jumps down in front of Sora and tries to make herself look intimidating to the massive tiger.

The tiger, now known as Kova, snaps at the smaller cat, "Learn your place woman..."

"Kova! I would advise you to not threaten my sister if you wish to sleep comfortably for the next 21 rises."

Sora looks behind Kova and sees a pale woman with long, wavy black hair wearing a black fur skirt and top that stops just above her midriff. Her arms are crossed and her foot taps on the the ground as she glares at the tiger in annoyance. Kova snorts and stalks away without another word.

The woman relaxes her stance, though she still gives Solar a reprimanding gaze.

"You know you're not allowed to leave the village Little Sister, you've been told this how many times?"

"Yeah, but it gets boring her after a while," Solar snorts. She turns to Sora, somehow still grinning as she says, "Sora, this is my twin sister Luna."

"Nice to meet you," he greets with a sheepish expression before introducing his friends.

Luna nods in acknowledgement, "Since Solar brought you here, you must be in need of something yes?"

"He wants to know if we've seen anything weird going on," Solar answers for him, "I haven't seen anything, but I thought you might have."

"No, I can't say that I have," Luna says as she shakes her head.

Sora looks at the ground and sighs, 'guess this was a waste after all,' he thinks.

"You may stay, if you like," Luna continues, "I must warn you however, the tribe is not normally friendly to outsiders. If you want hospitality, Look to the women here or go to Arcadia."

Sora nods before jumping a bit when he feels a hand on his back. He looks up to see Solar, human again, giving him a friendly smile.

"You can change back now, if you want. All you have to do is picture yourself as human," she aims a curious expression at him, "unless, you'd rather be a lion for a while?"

Sora moves his head in the negative, closing his eyes and imagining looking at himself in a mirror when he is human. The feeling of popping and adjusting starts again, making Sora frown in discomfort. When he opens his eyes, he is crouched down on all fours in his human form, though now he notices that he has a noticeable peach fuzz on his arms.

Luna raises a brow, "You act like you've never shifted before."

"He hasn't," Solar says, "I had to teach him how to do it before we came here. It's funny though," she slowly circles him as he stands upright, "He wasn't that fuzzy when I met him. It's almost like he's coming into manhood, though he looks like he's pass the age for it."

Solar giggles as she repositions herself at her twin's side. "He's a natural at it. Despite the obvious discomfort, he shifted back and forth on the first try. He has excellent senses too, most don't notice me as easily as he did, but he called me out like he knew I was there all along."

"Interesting," Luna says, studying the brunette. "He has the makings of a great hunter, though his clothes," she waves a hand at Sora's outfit.

"Yeah, I wondered about that too," Solar replies. "He looks and has the personality of an Arcadian, but the instincts of a Cattagarian. To be honest, I don't know what he is." Solar frowns.

"Hmm..."

Luna hasn't stopped surveying Sora, making the brunette extremely uncomfortable with intense gaze. Finally she shrugs, acting indifferent.

"Regardless, how would you like to join me in my hut tonight?" At Sora's sputtering and red face, Luna shakes her head as her lips upturn slightly, "I don't mean like that silly boy."

"I'm not a boy," Sora grumbles.

Luna rolls her eyes, "Feel free to explore the village, just avoid making confrontation. If you can't avoid it, I'd suggest you don't hold back; you'll get more respect that way. Oh and,"

She points to the two behind him that have been quiet for the duration of the conversation, "make sure to keep an eye on them; they are considered food here and will be treated as such if you aren't careful."

With that, Luna walks away, disappearing into one of the smaller shacks. Solar gives Sora an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry about that. Luna is usually sweet, but she doesn't like to show it."

Sora waves her off, grinning as he replies, "it's alright, I have a few friends like that so I'm used to it."

"Even if that's the case, you should listen to her," Solar warns her face becoming serious, "you don't look like you're used to our way of life. Cattagarians are all about pride and strength rather than kindness. You can't act nice all the time while you're here or they'll tear you to shreds, and that's not just a figure of speech here."

Sora's grin drops as he nods, taking the advise. Solar suddenly brightens, holding her hands behind her back.

"Even so, don't hesitate to come to me or Luna if you need help! Whether she admits it or not, she does like you." She says cheerfully.

"Haha, okay I will!"

Solar waves and walks, or in her case skips, away; off to do what ever she does when she's in the village. Sora turns to the silent disney characters and folds his arms behind his head as he gives them his trademark grin.

"Well then, guess we go around and see what's new!"

The bird and tortoise glance at each other, Donald sighing and Goofy chuckling before they slowly crawl out of the jungle into the clearing.

 **.o.0.o.**

 **Sorceress here! Yeah, I decided to post this chapter early since it's a kind of filler. Don't worry, I'm not gonna explain every little thing about this world, but since it's original, I felt like needed to establish somewhat how it works so nobody's completely lost.**

 **The next chapter will have something happening though, so make sure to stay tuned okay? I hope all of you have a great rest of your week, and I'll see you this saturday with the next chapter! :)**

 **~Sorceress**


	8. Not Worthless

**Warnings: Talks about killing. This is the way of the animal kingdom people! Oh, and Sora slips a bit too, for reasons you'll find when you read.**

 **Disclaimer: This World. Is MINE! These oc's. Are MINE! Everything else is not. o_o;**

 **(Points if you get the reference above. ;))**

 **Let's get this show on the road!**

 **.o.0.o.**

Things were going great, but giving Sora's unfortunate ability to attract trouble, it isn't long before he gets into a fight.

A couple of jaguar shifters manage to corner him, while several cougars separate him from Donald and Goofy. Now, it's not like Sora isn't used to getting into fights, obviously, but they usually aren't serious when it comes to him going up against something he _knows_ is a human, much less two. Donald and Goofy can hold their own, regardless of appearance, but Sora...

"Come on guys, I don't want any trouble," Sora says, putting hands up with palms out as he takes a step back. The jaguars smirk as they back him against the wall of the larger shack, effectively cornering him.

"Oh but you do have trouble Arcadian scum," Says the jaguar to his left, "either you're really naive or really stupid to come to our jungles."

"Yeah," snarls the one to Sora's right, "kind of pathetic to be hiding behind the eclipse twins. Just like a cowardly Arcadian."

Before Sora can verbally defend himself, this jaguar lunges, teeth bared as he shifts into his animal form and aims for Sora's throat. Sora instinctively dodge rolls out of the way, causing the big cat to smash into the wall. Thinking quickly, Sora gets to his feet and runs out into the open area of the village, the two big cats chasing behind him.

"Running are you? Don't have the balls to take your death like a man filthy _Arcadian_?!"

By this time, a small crowd has gathered, closing the fight in. Sora knows Solar and Luna are in the crowd somewhere, but he can't see them at the moment. He gets pile derived into the dirt floor and yelps in pain when he lands wrong on his shoulder and one of the massive cats begin to claw and tear up his back and side.

 _'Cattagarians are all about pride and strength rather than kindness. You can't act nice all the time while you're here or they'll tear you to shreds, and that's not just a figure of speech here.'_

Remembering Solar's words, Sora growls and throws the jaguar off him. He doesn't take the time to notice himself change, pouncing on the shocked jaguar and ripping into him with his fangs and claws. The second jaguar shoves him off of the other, sharp claws tearing into the lion's side. Sora roars in pain and swipes at it's face, the jaguar screaming in outrage as Sora effectively blinds it.

Sora can't celebrate his victory for long though; as soon as the jaguars begin working together Sora finds himself more on the defence. He resorts to dodging and counter attacking but the jaguars have more experience with fighting like this; Sora's always fought with a keyblade in this form and very seldom did he fight against something that didn't have something to do with heartless. Though he does sense darkness in these two, he can't reveal the keyblade at this time and he still doesn't truly want to harm something that has nothing to do with the heartless. His shoulder is throbbing as well, making Sora slower in his reactions.

His adrenaline rushes, his instinct for survival overwhelming, and that cursed voice echoes through his head alongside the pounding in his ears, distracting him from dodging and attacking.

 ** _'Come on, kill them! They deserve it for challenging you!'_**

'No! I'm not like that!'

 **'Please, this is survival of the fittest! Kill or be killed, these fools are nothing to your strength!'**

'That doesn't mean I have to use it!' Sora winces as he gets a slash to his injured shoulder, the enemies claws coming so close to tearing into his neck as he staggers.

 ** _'You know they are trying to kill you correct? They will think nothing of you if you let them live, they will simply come back stronger! Make an example like that and your light will be extinguished before you know it.'_**

Sora jumps out of the way of a powerful bite, his body going on autopilot as he tries to think of a worthy argument; but he can't.

 ** _'Do you really want to die like this? Your precious friend would have taken care of these savages by now!'_** the voice growls, **_'you are the king! A king does not let worthless sacks of flesh bat him around like a play thing, regardless of what their form is! If these fools were heartless you would have devoured them without a second thought.'_**

'They aren't heartless! They're humans!'

A powerful hit throws Sora to the ground. He breaths heavily, unable to move. He is just too tired to do so. One of the jaguars presses a paw to his throat, the pressure threatening to snap it.

"Heheheh...so much for a king of the jungle," the big cat jeers.

"Yeah, so much for that." the other adds, "nothing to say Arcadian? Looks like your _weak_ after all."

Sora's eyes fly open.

"Weak! Pathetic! Unworthy of life!" The jaguars chant, some of the people around them echoing the taunts.

 _"What's the matter mute? Why don't you tell me off?"_

 _"He's too scared to! No wonder he doesn't have any friends! Who would wanna hang around a pathetic freak like you?"_

 _"Why don't you just crawl in a hole and die you worthless waste of air?!"_

 _"Worthless!"_

 _"Worthless!"_

 **"WORTHLESS!"**

Darkness explodes around Sora, engulfing the lion and transforming him out of it and into his anti-form. The jaguars along with the rest of the rest of the tribe back away from the energy, sensing the danger emanating from it. Yellow eyes flash as they focus in on the two jaguars, a low hiss like that of a snake coming from black lips.

"Not weak...not... _WORTHLESS!!!"_

With speed that nobody in the tribe has ever seen, except from maybe the eldest big cat, Sora strikes. He claws and bites the jaguars, leaving them in a bloody and quivering mess. Just as he's about to give the final blow however, he freezes, the black tendrils flickering as he fights himself.

 ** _'Finish them! If you let them go now, it proves how weak you really are to them!'_**

'No! I've made my point, if I kill them I'll be no better than they are!'

The voice snarls, **_'heed me warrior of light, you cannot be the way you are now in these worlds...you'll see soon enough...'_**

Sora shivers as the darkness recedes back into his heart, hearing the threat in those last words. His energy drains and he collapses to the ground, panting from exhaustion. He distantly hears someone call his name and feels someone pick him up before everything fades to black.


	9. Good and Evil

**Hello everyone, sorry about the late update. I went to a carnival yesterday and ended up passing out in the middle of editing due to exhaustion.**

 **But, it is here now, and if this seems like filler, then I apologize. There's some points here that I thought would benefit Sora a little bit though, and a question that always had me scratching my head and I'm sure it would be for Sora as well if he really took the time to think about it like he does here.**

 **That said, let's get this show on the road and let me know what you think! :)**

 **Disclaimer: Luna and the world I sent Sora and co. to belongs to me, everything else belongs to Square and Yen Sid spelled backwards. I make no profit from this and only do it for my own amusement and everyone's enjoyment.**

 **.o.0.o.**

 _Sora runs to the closet, quickly flashing a light from his keyblade before swinging it and cutting the shadow in half. He quickly runs to the bed, cutting two shadow heartless down there as well. The room seems darker and heavier than before, which is saying something since Sora hasn't found a light switch once and the only light he has is the Kingdom Key. He hears knocking from outside and whips his head to the only other human being the room._

 _The armored blond watches the left door suspiciously, inching his way to the door with his reverse grip keyblade ready. He slowly opens the door and something lunges at him. With not so much thought as it is more reaction, the teen swings his blade around and strikes. Rather than the hiss of a shadow disappearing however, there is an audible thump as whatever the warrior attacked hit the wall._

 _Sora runs over to see what happened and his eyes widen as he gazes down at the image of Roxas, sapphire eyes hard with purple bags underneath as Sora's nobody glares him down._

 ** _"I warned you, Sora..."_** _The Voice chuckles from all around,_ **_"but you refused to believe. Now suffer the truths, hear what your 'friends' really think..."_**

 _Different voices echo around Sora, causing him to twist and turn in an attempt to see where they're coming from. His protector pulls him into his arms, trying to shield the brunet. But that doesn't stop the voices of his friends from echoing in his ears, taunting him._

 _"You never came back! You care more about **him** than you do me!" Kairi..._

 _"You forgot about me! After all I did to restore your memories! You said you'd be my friend, but you never once looked for me!" Naminé..._

 _"You took him from me! Both of them! My best friends! Why did I sacrifice myself for you?!" Lea..._

 _"Why did it have to be you?! Why did the keyblade choose you?! I always have to be in your shadow, because of you I can't even have my own heart!" Roxas..._

 _The last one hurt the most._

 _"You were always no match for me, I can't believe you even try to keep up with me. And when it all came down to it, you forgot about me. I had to wait a whole year for you to wake up, **I** had to bust my ass just to make you whole. And in the end..._

 **"You still turned into a monster."**

 _Sora gets wrenched out of the blond's hands and looks up terrified at his friend Riku, aquamarine eyes stony as he gazes down at Sora in accusation._

 _"At least I conquered my own darkness. You..." Riku shakes his head, "you've never done anything on your own; you've always had one of us help you and fix your messes; you stupid brat!"_

 _Sora is unable to speak, his throat tight. Riku sneers, "what's the matter heartless? Afraid of me now?"_

 _Riku lets go of Sora's arm, only for the silveret to wrap a large hand around the child's throat. Sora grabs Riku's wrist, trying to say something, but a strange chittering comes out of his throat. With dawning horror, he looks down at his hands, praying he's imagining it, but alas; he sees the familiar claws of a shadow heartless instead of his own._

 _Riku summons Soul Eater and raises it, "heartless scum, it's about time I finally strike you down," he says with a tone of finality. Riku swings the keyblade down..._

 **.o.0.o.**

When Sora awakens, he finds himself laying on a cot in an unfamiliar room. His breath is heavy and he puts a hand to his chest as he sits up, feeling his heart hammer in his chest as the end of his nightmare runs on repeat in his mind's eye, his friends' accusations ringing in his head like the bells of Notre Dame. He swallows thickly, his throat feeling like he had eaten a ton of sand as he looks around at unfamiliar surroundings.

A cup appears in his line of vision, making Sora flinch and close his eyes, his senses still wired and on high alert. A soft sigh from his right causes him to open them again to see steady blue eyes, almost as blue as his own and twice as deep, a pale heart shaped face framing them and giving off an air of quiet concern.

"I thought you might need something to drink, you were out for some time," says a calm, almost soothing voice.

Finally, his brain puts two and two together and he smiles apologetically, accepting the cup of water from Luna with a silent nod of thanks. Luna nods back before standing and walking over to the large, crackling campfire in the middle of the home and stirs something in a large caldron.

"You made quite the impression today, if I do say so myself. Though I'm honestly amazed you let the morons live; anyone else would have put them out of their misery," Luna continues. Her voice is monotone the entire time, making it difficult to read her.

Sora wrinkles his brow in confusion before it all comes back to him. His eyes widen in worry as he asks hesitantly, "are they alright?"

Luna chuckles, shaking her head as she gives him a look of amusement and slight disbelief, "yes, they are fine. Simply resting in their homes. You are a strange one though; they challenged you, you had every right to kill them for their arrogance...and yet you still worry for them," she shakes her head again before pulling a bowl out of nowhere and filling it with soup.

"Want some?"

Sora gets up and goes over, "thank you," he says as he takes the bowl with a small smile and sits on a log that seems to function as a bench.

"Is it wrong to worry about a life?"

Luna sits next to him, her own dinner in her hand as her expression turns contemplative, "no, I don't believe it is wrong; all life is sacred after all. But there is always a time when you must cast those kind of thoughts away."

"For the good of everyone you mean?" Sora says, almost surprising himself at the bitterness that seeps into his voice. Luna chuckles before taking a sip of her soup.

"Yes, that is one case. Other times though, you have to do it for the sake of your own survival. The world is too cruel and unfair for someone to worry about every little thing, much less someone's life. In some cases, when in that situation, the law of survival calls for you to kill. Though it is considered wrong most of the time, you must remember that when it comes down to it, you must do something 'wrong' in order to do what's 'right'."

"Even if it means you could be seen as evil?" Sora asks.

Luna shrugs, her face becoming blank, "what is good and evil?" She retorts.

"Uh...good is when someone does something...well I mean, evil is when someone does something wrong, like harming people without remorse...right?" Sora answers, unsure.

"Everyone has their own definition of good and evil, right and wrong. What is you're definition?"

"Helping people, protecting them from people who want to harm or manipulate them." Sora says without any doubt.

Luna nods, "You have a strong sense of justice, which I personally don't consider a bad thing." She shifts and looks Sora in the eye, "but to someone else, this quality could be considered foolish at best, an annoyance at worst. Self sacrifice, manipulation, everyone has their own ideas on it. Take for instance war,"

Taking her own empty bowl and Sora's untouched soup and setting them aside, she folds her hands in her lap and explains, "on the concept of war, everyone has different views on it. Some consider it as something needed, to make history, to stake a claim, to defend what they believe in. Others believe it to be unnecessary, it's violent obviously, lives and land can get destroyed in the bloodshed. So many people loose their lives in wars for their lands, families and beliefs.

"Taking manipulation into account," she continues, "no matter what side those people are on, there are people who can manipulate them into believing that war is necessary or unnecessary. They could tell and show people what our supposed enemies are like, whether good or bad, and either rile them up or sooth them. It's all a matter of using the right words to get the desired effect."

"But isn't that lying?" Sora inquires.

Luna shakes her head, an almost disgusted look crossing her face before becoming serene again.

"It doesn't matter whether it's lies or not. When it comes to manipulation, you manipulate the crowd to get what you want. This causes a reaction known as Mob Mentality, or to be more pessimistic, sheep syndrome as I call it; using the masses ignorance and fear to get what you want.

"Ignorance is a beautiful and dangerous quality to have as well; if you didn't know any better, I could tell you a certain person or persons where evil and you would believe me until you find out otherwise, but by then it could be too late and you may have already harmed or even killed a lot of innocent people."

Sora cringes, remembering Lea and most of Organization XIII. Luna notices this and gazes at him sympathetically.

"You have already been through that I take it? But you realize how things like this happen, right?"

Sora nods, still feeling bad about the organization; Roxas and Lea in particular.

"Though you've been told it was for the greater good and from what I gather I think it might have been," Luna says, "there are always going to be innocents caught up in it. There for, the concept of war-- the concept of good and evil-- is a moot point. Just because you've been told something is good or evil does not set it in stone. You have to come to these conclusions yourself and take everything with a grain of salt," Luna smirks a little, "at least, that's how I've gotten through life."

Sora nods, smiling a little as he thinks about what the raven haired woman said.

'If that's the case, then why is darkness bad and light good? No one really explained that to me, I would think when it came down to it, it would be better to have have and use both, but because of Xehanort and Maleficent...'

"I can tell you have a lot on your mind," Luna stands, taking the dishes with her, "I leave you here to think. Oh, and before I forget, you friends are going to be staying with Solar if that's okay."

Sora nods, only half hearing. Luna sighs, "it might be a good idea to get some more sleep when you get the chance; I don't want to have to take care of you again," with that, she leaves, pulling the curtain to the entrance closed behind her.

The thought of sleep doesn't sound very appealing to the brunet at the moment, especially since the nightmare he had and the talk with Luna has his brain working on over drive. He ends up staying up for the rest of the night, staring into the embers of the dying fire as if they held the answers he is looking for.


	10. Worries of an anthropomorphic duck

**Hello everyone! This chapter is another filler, unfortunately, but now you get to see Donald's point of view and what he thinks about everything. Istoleyourcheesecake, you get your wish here!**

 **Things will pick up again in the next chapter though, so be prepared! Let's get this show on the road shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own. The world and ocs are mine though.**

 **.o.0.o.**

When Sora leaves Luna's home in the morning, he finds most of the village deserted. He looks around and comes across a young girl sewing something and asks her where most of the tribe have gone.

"They went to gather food," the girl tells him, "every morning the men go hunting and the women go foraging for food and medicine."

"Oh, okay." Sora replies, rubbing the back of his head before another thing occurs to him, "is Solar around?"

The little girl shrugs, not taking her eyes from her work, "she's supposed to be here, but she sometimes sneaks off on her own."

Sora thanks her and goes looking for Donald and Goofy, wanting to plan their next coarse of action.

'All these shacks look the same, how can anyone tell where they're supposed to go? Even the shacks on destiny islands have _some_ differences to tell them apart.'

"Oh! There he is!" He hears from the left of him. He glances over and grins, seeing Solar, Donald and Goofy standing next to her house; at least he _thought_ it was her house.

"Did you have a good sleep?" Solar teases.

Sora almost grimaces at that, but manages to keep his smile in place, "sure did! What are you guys doing?"

"Solar told us that we can go to Arcadia and see if something's up," Goofy says.

"Yeah, since there's nothing here," Donald adds.

"You can't miss it really. Just head back the way you came from." Solar points in said direction, "when you get outta the jungle, there should be a meadow. You'll see Arcadia, since it's so big."

"Thanks Solar, for the help," Sora says. The blonde brushes him off.

"No need to thank me, but," Solar furrows her brow, thinking, "if you can find someone by the name of Maia and let her know that me and Luna are alright..."

Sora frowns, "why? Is that a friend of yours?"

Solar smiles nostalgically, eyes drifting away to rest on the ground, "you could say she was, just tell her that we're okay and to not to worry about us. We'll both consider it as thanks from you."

Sora observes her, trying to get more information from her face. With no more information forth coming, Sora grins and nods, folding his arms behind his head in a relaxed fashion.

"Sure, I think we can do that. Come on guys, no time to waste."

With that, the trio marches off into the jungle, Solar grinning behind them as she waves goodbye before she frowns and drops her hand.

"Be careful..."

 **.o.0.o.**

Donald and Goofy follow behind the cheerful brunet, Donald's face etched with worry as he watches the teen's back. He is beginning to worry about Sora, especially since he managed to change into anti-form without Donald and Goofy being absorbed. Though Donald could only remember vague impressions when Sora did it, they don't recall ever seeing the teen act so ruthless before...then again, they haven't always been with him so the cockatiel can't be sure. Even so, he had heard the King and Riku talk about it and they described it simply as Sora becoming a heartless; though with much more intelligence from what they've been told.

From what Donald could gather when he talked to Riku, Anti-form always seemed to happen when Sora relied on his drive forms too much, absorbing the darkness in the air around him until it overflowed and he would change into a creature that looks more like one of the shadows Riku summoned a couple years back. The keyblade would vanish and Sora would rely on his teeth and claws. Anti-form attacked much like a normal shadow heartless, except he was faster and never seemed to phase into the ground.

 _"It was fascinating to watch him sometimes," Riku told him, "when he sits still, he bounces like an impatient puppy, I could almost see the Sora I know when he does it. But when he attacks, he's wild and sporadic, almost too fast for the naked eye to see. I've seen him cut through thick heartless armor and nobody skin with his bare hands like a deranged, hungry animal. But there's an intelligence there too, like it knows what it's doing and enjoys it more than Sora would when he's normal."_

 _Riku gets an uncomfortable look on his face as he crosses his arms, blue-green eyes clouded as he remembered._

 _"I don't like when he becomes that drive form, it gives off the impression of a psychopath, at least to me it does. I think it's a good thing that you guys disappear like you do when it happens...I'm afraid to think what he might do if his friends are around and he's like that."_

Well, Donald and Goofy both got to see what the teen meant. Though Donald doesn't remember Riku saying anything about Sora being able to talk in Anti-form; and from the vague flashes and impressions, he thinks it never happened before. But that voice...

Donald shivers, almost dropping to the ground before righting himself. Of all the villains they've come across, Donald has never heard such a voice before; so much rage and coldness, Sora had never sounded like that before. When Sora got ticked off, he would let it be known; he would yell, pout, throw things, anything you would expect from a child throwing a tantrum and not a fourteen to seventeen year old teenager. When he was truly angry, he would become extremely quiet and his eyes would become dark, but it never made Donald feel like his life was on the line because Sora's anger would be directed towards an enemy and not his friends.

But Donald was watching Sora fight, after they'd dispatched the other werecats, Donald and Goofy along with the rest of the village began watching the fight between Sora and the two jaguars. Even with the jaguars threat of death, Sora refused to use full strength; even though King Mickey's men and best friends knew Sora could take them out if he had to and easily at that. Donald and Goofy were about to jump in when they pinned Sora down, the whole village chanting insults and quite frankly, pissing the duck turned cockatiel off. Before they could however, Donald got a look at Sora's face.

Humiliation, pain and a deep rage filled Sora's eyes at that moment. Donald will never forget the look on the brunet's face; he looked about ready to murder, causing Donald to feel like a powerful blizzaga spell had been shot at him, leaving him shaking. It got worse when the darkness covered the blue eyed teen, swamping the entire clearing with dark energy. Sora had cut the two big cats to ribbons and the solid yellow eyes had a gleam to them, looking like they enjoyed every minute of it.

When it came to the killing blow though, those gold eyes narrowed and Sora froze; or at least froze as much as he could in that form. He was twitching and digging his claws into the ground, as if fighting with something, before the darkness receded and Sora passed out. The villagers all stood stalk still until Luna and Solar went over and took the unconscious boy to one of the shacks, the rest of the shifters either helping the rest of the men that fell or going back to their business once that the fight had ended.

Donald looks to Goofy worriedly, the tortoise just shuffling along like nothing was out of the ordinary. Donald wanted to slap Goofy sometimes for his carefree attitude, but he knew the other was as concerned about Sora as he was. Sora seems to want to act like nothing was amiss as well, which troubles Donald further. They had to talk about what happened at some point. Donald will just have to wait until the time is right though, because he knows Sora will brush him off if he asks now.

They finally get out of the jungle and into the meadow where they had landed some days ago and look out at the calm beauty of the area. Before them lays the city, tinted a light blue color and contrasting with the orange and reds of the afternoon, though if it is blue because of the lighting or some kind of architectural thing, the trio isn't sure.

Sora turns and grins at the two behind him, putting his hands behind his head in his usual laid back way, "How 'bout we sleep in the ship tonight before heading out the rest of the way?"

"Uhyuck! Sounds like a good idea t' me!"

Donald shakes his head, though the other two doesn't notice as they take off to the gummi ship. All Donald wants is for this mission to be over.


	11. Arcadia

**We are getting close to the climax of this world, I'm pretty sure a lot of you are probably thankful for that too. There is a reason for all this though, Sora is steadily weakening and coming close to a break down! Let's get this Show on the road so all of you can watch what happens next!**

 **Warnings: Extremely unfair justice system here folks. There is no such thing as a utopia of coarse.**

 **.o.0.o.**

The next day, the trio head off again towards the blue city in the distance. When they get to the city known as Arcadia, they see what you would expect of a bustling city: tall buildings, people lining the streets, there are even trams reminiscent to those of twilight town only they hovering over the tracks.

Sora, though familiar with tram systems thanks to experience and Roxas' memories, feels his jaw drop as he gawks at the city. It looks like some kind of futuristic utopia; the streets are clean, everything seeming like it's doing what it should, even the people with their cat ears and tails look like they fit perfectly into the environment. It's a vast change from the primitive lifestyle of the Catagarians.

Though even as the city looks like a technological paradise, there's some kind of undertone to it that makes Sora uncomfortable and it's not just because he grew up on an island. He's been in Tron's world twice and even if he isn't really tech savvy-- far from it if he is being honest-- he _is_ familiar with a setting like this. No, there is something wrong with this picture, but Sora can't figure out what it is even if his life depends on it.

"This sure if a big city huh?" Goofy remarks with the same awe Sora had felt a few moment's ago.

"Yeah, you think we should find the leader of this place?"

Sora turns to look at his friends as he says this, only to see Donald with a wary face.

"I don't know Sora, we don't wanna get lost here."

"Well, maybe if we ask someone they can point us in the right direction," replies the brunet with a grin. Donald glances at him exasperatedly.

"We need to be careful Sora!" Donald warns, "we could get into a lot of- WHACK!" Sora runs off before Donald can even finish.

Sora runs up to the nearest person he sees, which happens to be a woman, and taps her shoulder, "excuse me miss, could you-"

"AHHH!! THIEF!" The woman screams, causing Sora to jump back in shock.

"Wha?! No I'm not-" the woman isn't listening.

"GUARDS! THIEF! MUGGER! HELP!" She cries as she begins swinging her arms trying to hit Sora.

"I'm not doing anything! Would you please stop?!" Sora says, raising his voice to be heard as he tries to defend himself from the hysterical woman.

It all happens in a blur after that.

Men in white uniforms come seemingly out of nowhere and the next thing Sora knows he's eating asphalt, his hands being forced behind his back as he gets shackles and even a muzzle put on him. Donald and Goofy try to help but they end up being overwhelmed before they get roughly thrown into a cage. The cage and the brunet get thrown in the back of a van, Sora struggling and Donald squawking the entire time.

"We didn't do anything! Ya' gotta believe us!" Goofy pleads.

"Where are you taking us?!" Donald say flapping his wings angrily.

"Quiet!" One of the guards snaps, "or we'll muzzle you too."

Donald continues to holler obscenities until blue symbols light up on the frame of the cage and Donald literally gets the shock of his life. He falls to floor out cold as the symbols disappear.

Goofy and Sora's eyes widen at this. Goofy audibly gulps in nervousness while Sora glares daggers at the back of the guards heads, 'so much for being friendly,' he thinks bitterly.

 ** _"You know if you wanted to you could easily break these chains."_**

'I'm not breaking out, this is all just a huge misunderstanding,' Sora counters, 'these guys are the police of the city, if we wait it out and explain what happened then we can fix this.'

 ** _"What if they don't give you a chance to explain, hmm? They've muzzled you, you won't be able to explain right now and if they actually do give you a trial and yet they never remove it..."_** The Voice trailed off, not needing to add anymore to that.

'Then...' Sora sighs through his nose, 'I'll deal with whatever I must...'

 **.o.0.o.**

After some time of riding in silence, Sora finally feels the van stop. The back doors open and Sora get dragged out along with the cage. The guards lead the trio to a tall building and they walk in, Sora not having any time to get a good look at anything as he gets pushed along.

After standing uncomfortably in an elevator for what feels like an eternity, they finally get to a room that looks somewhat like a court room. There is a row of people lining the back wall, obviously representing the judges. When Sora looks up he sees a balcony with people leaning over it and giving him harsh glares. Everything is pure white, making Sora get a bad feeling though he can't recall why, the only color in the room being the people's black robes.

They walk him up to a platform surrounded by four large crystals, just slightly taller than Sora himself. They take the muzzle off and shove him into the center of the crystal before he can even say anything, so when he tries to talk no sound comes out of his throat. He looks around and sees the crystals light up, an almost invisible barrier forming between them.

'So I can't talk, and I can't move. What kind of trial is this?' This almost reminds Sora of Wonderland with Alice and the Queen of Hearts; he only hopes that the judges will be more open minded to his words, but considering he can't talk of his own free will...

Someone walks up and stands next to the platform Sora is on, looking through papers in a large blue folder and acting as if Sora wasn't even there. 'Is this my lawyer?' He thinks wrinkling his nose.

"The tribunal shall begin now!" The second to middle judge booms, "we have the accused, a lion shifter by the looks of it, who has been caught trying to harm a defenseless young woman."

"That's not true!" Sora tries to say, but instead he only mouths it. The woman speaking the accusations continues.

"We have Florancis, representing the woman, Miss summers," she motions towards a woman that Sora had missed off to the side "and Clayport, representing the accused."

The woman in the middle, the head judge Sora figured, leaned down and glared the brunet in the eye, "the crystals around you will force you to speak only truths, try to lie or resist and you will be electrocuted. Now, state your name."

"Sora, your honor," he says, finding he can speak now.

"And what is your age?"

"Seventeen ma'am," Sora replies, trying to be polite.

"Are you aware of the charges against you?" The judge says monotone.

"Yes ma'am, bu-" his voice cuts off.

"Then we shall get on with it," she says dismissively before looking at Florancis, "tell us the victims side of the incident."

"Gladly most high," Florancis walks infront of the judge table, "the victim was simply minding her own business when this ruffian and his companions, attacked her in broad daylight with the intent of doing her harm."

Sora stomps his foot, mouth moving in outrage but unable to make a sound in his defence. The women in the the room ignore him.

"The victim in question tried to defend herself, but this thug managed grab her, holding her down. If it wasn't for the city protection stepping in he could have done far worse."

'I was wrong, this is WORSE than Wonderland! At least during that time I could talk!' A soundless growl escapes him; the only way Sora knows he is growling is the vibrations in his throat.

"Does the accused have anything to say?" The judge asks.

Sora waves his hands frantically and the judges give him an unimpressed look, "Yes?"

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Sora exclaims as fast as he can.

"Oh really?" Florancis says smirking slightly, "then please, tell what happened _criminal_."

Sora grits his teeth at the condescending tone before taking a calming breath; he can't lose his temper here.

"I was just asking for directions and the woman freaked out. She tried hitting me and I was just trying to hold her off, I wasn't trying to steal anything and I wasn't trying to hurt anyone."

Sora stood confidently after he finished his explanation, when suddenly the four crystals surrounding him light up a bright white and he cries out in pain; he falls to his knees as the energy surges through him, wrapping his arms around himself in an automatic attempt to fight the pain off.

"Aha! So the accused is a liar as well!" Florancis says in a smug fashion, "obviously your attempts at getting away from justice are not going to work here criminal!"

"I'm not- AHHH!" Sora grinds his teeth as the current becomes stronger, the pain so bad that he doesn't notice the blood oozing from the side of his mouth. He collapses completely to the ground, twitching every few seconds from the after shocks of his punishment.

"We've heard enough," the head judge says, "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

Whispers are heard from the balcony above, the words too indistinct for Sora to understand in his pain; though the judge nods.

"Very well, for the crimes of assault and evading justice, we sentence the accused to twenty years of fighting in the arena."

Sora comes out of his own would at that as he hears the gavel come down with a tone of finality. The crystals dim and guards come over to take him away.

"Wait a minute! I'm innocent! Please you gotta believe me! I'm the key-" the guards muzzle him before he can finish his sentence.

They drag Sora away with him struggling all the way, his protests muffled as the doors to the elevator close.


	12. Fighters

**Warnings: This is the one where Sora is REALLY out of character, but it's necessary. Also a REALLY long chapter compared to others.**

 **Disclaimer: The world and it's customs are mine, along with the oc's. Fire however, belongs to FireWolf13th who was nice enough to let me borrow her oc for a while. :)**

 **.o.0.o.**

Cheers are overheard outside the dungeons as Sora gets dragged into a dark room. His muzzle is removed and he gets thrown unceremoniously into a large metal cage. He runs on all fours up to the bars, rattling them with as much strength as he can.

"Let me out! I'm innocent, honest! Please..."

"Ha! That's funny!" A female voice calls out, "that's what everyone around here says; hell, I said that too."

The tail of a tiger flicks into view for a moment, but there is something off about the color; like the black was too light.

"You know, when I still gave a damn about what the sheep thought."

Sora looks to his right and vaguely sees the outline of a woman in another cage, the only thing that shown clearly being glowing silver eyes. Everything else isn't as visible because the torches lighting the room are set too far apart from where their cages are. Sora frowns, registering what the woman said, "Sheep?"

She laughs, slamming her hand covered in rich orange fur with light grey stripes down on the bars. Those glowing silver eyes narrowing.

"Yep, sheep. They are the ones that damned us here," gold claws slid down the metal before the hand disappeared in the shadows again, "I guess they just really don't like strong the willed," a vague movement of the woman shrugging her shoulders.

"Strong willed?" Sora softly repeats, "all I did was try to ask for directions and this bi-" He cuts himself off before starting again, "I mean, this woman said that I was trying to rob her! I didn't do anything!"

Even in the dark it's obvious that the woman is smirking.

"Oh, a curse word hater; how interesting," the tail flickers back into view again and the sound of her stretching can be heard in the quiet room,

"that 'bitch' probably wanted more entertainment; the law suits around here are the most exciting thing that happens."

She lets out a long, satisfied sigh, "well, what happens after is. The lawyer that sent you here, whoever it was, probably works for the master of the sheep."

"Do you know what's going on here?" Sora asks.

The woman hummed lightly, "what do you mean?" Her tail flicks again, "is there a specific thing you're looking for or just in general?"

Sora sighs, feeling himself becoming antsy, "well in general yeah, and what the 'arena' is; I'd rather be prepared."

A low purr rumbles in the air, "well, the head man is an ass, I know that; how else could he keep everyone in line? Let's see..." She taps her foot, muttering to herself.

"We're obviously in cages, we were put here so we can entertain the masses!" She says the last part in the classic announcer voice, "uh, the arena is a place for fighting. It's where two prisoners, no matter what they are, fight to the death."

The woman pauses for a moment, "no mercy and no getting out of it. Sorry kid, you're stuck here with me until your match starts...or mine does, either way."

The woman seems to regard him curiously, "you need to relax. You seem tense."

Sora glances warily around the dim room, "I've been in fights all the time, I've just never been in a life or death fight with anyone who was qualified as a human...well accept..." He remembers the fight he had with the two jaguar shifters before he shakes the thought away.

" ** _You sense it don't you? The darkness is thick here...oh!"_** The voice chuckles, **_"I think I hear prey~; finally a worthy meal."_**

Sora begins twitching, shaking his head discreetly as he tries to get rid of that dark thrill that sends tingles up his back bone, "uh, hey? Do you know if they do anything else besides one on one opponent fights here? Like say, giant black mutant ant looking things or something along those lines?" He says trying to keep his voice level.

The glowing silver eyes sparkle with amusement, "that's one of the things we're gonna fight," she leans forward, her face coming into the light just enough for him to see her smirk and the jagged scar running down the right side of her face.

"I have to say though, those things put up a good fight and they don't taste too bad either," Sora gnashes his teeth at that.

Her tongue rolled over her sharp teeth as she leaned back into the darkness, "hey, what's your name anyway?"

"S-sora," he forces out.

He knows very well what they taste like, that's why the voice likes to taunt him with it. He can smell them as well, even now the little morsels taunt his heightened feline senses. Oh, if only she knew...

His mouth begins to water and he swallows thickly, trying to get back on the conversation at hand and ignore the hunger rising in him, "sorry for not introducing myself earlier," he says as he forces a smile.

His tail however gives away his true feelings, swishing back and forth in agitation.

The woman immediately picks up on it, "I would usually ignore the sudden attitude change, but you...interest me."

There is a light hum, then a sigh, "My name is Fire," she says, hesitation in her voice, "would you like to see me? I feel kind of bad that I can see you, but it's impossible for you to see me."

Her silhouette head tilts to the side, "why are you so tense all of the sudden?" She adds with curiosity suddenly showing in her voice.

Sora automatically falls back on politeness despite his restlessness, "oh, you don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable..." he says, ignoring the second question.

"No," she shuffles forward, showing off a tiger paw, gold claws glinting, "it's...fine."

Fire moves closer to the bars and sits down in front of them, her long tail curling around her waist in slight discomfort. Thick orange fur covers her body, stripes making jagged lines all over. The orange fades out and turns into a light tan color as it approaches her breast and belly. Fire wears a black leather jacket that looks like it had seen better days and leggings that look just as bad if not worse. One of her ears is torn and the other is pierced with a silver ring.

The scar on the right side of her face goes from her cheek bone and disappears into her messy dark red hair, while another scar crosses over from her left cheek bone and over her upper lip. Lots of little disturbances in the flow of her fur mark more battle scars, the biggest visible one being three slash marks going straight across her chest; probably from a neoshadow, Sora assumes.

"So...Sora," she starts, narrowing her eyes slightly, "why did you avoid my question?"

Sora shifts uncomfortably, "I did?" He says putting on his clueless act. He takes in her appearance and gives her a sad smile,

"You remind me a bit of a friend," He says, trying to redirect the topic again, "he has a scar between his eyes; it's the only one I know of anyway. You must have gone through a lot huh?"

Fire just stares at him blankly for a moment before sighing, knowing what he is trying to do. Deciding on a different approach she answers with, "yeah..."

She traces the scar going over her lip, "it's been a bad couple of years, Sora, but you didn't answer me,"

She looks up at him, her ears going down as she asks, as softly as she can, "why did you get so tense?"

 ** _"Why don't you tell her?"_** The whispers, **_"She isn't one of your so called 'friends' and your not likely to see her again. Or are you afraid what she might do when she figures out you one of them~?"_**

Sora's eye twitches before he roughly shakes his head, giving her a strained smile. He gets on all fours-- the cage is to short to stand properly-- and begins bouncing his feet slightly,

"I guess I'm just worried about my friends is all, a couple of them had come with me and I haven't seen them since before the tribunal," not a total lie, he reasons.

 ** _"Oh yes~ not a lie at all little light~,"_** The voice snickers; Sora ignores it.

Fire watches him absently bounce up and down, her eye twitching as irritation starts settling in, "you tensed when I said those bug things tasted good," she crosses her arms, "I call bullshit because, unlike a lot of cats here, I'm not stupid or naive."

Fire brought her ears back up, "What's eatin' at you?"

"Uh, uh..." Sora can't think of anything to say to that.

 ** _"Yes~ what is it Little Light? You look like your about to snap~"_**

'I'm fine. I'm okay,' Sora chants in his head.

 ** _"As fine as the King of heartless and nobodies can be you mean?"_** It sneers.

That did it.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT! UP!!!" Sora reaches up and grabs his head, going off balance from his crouched position and falling on his ass as he begins mumbling to himself, "that's not me! Not me! I'm not a monster! I'm not!"

Tears run down his face as he gets forced to see visions of tearing the heartless apart, the taste ghosting over his taste buds from memory alone and causing him to he grind his teeth so hard that a coppery flavor adds to the rest. He shakes his head trying to clear the images away,

"I hate the taste! Hate it! I'm not a king I'm not a monster!" He finally exhausts himself and begins sobbing, pulling his knees to his chest and hiding his face in them.

"I'm not a heartless anymore, please don't..." he whispers brokenly, not aware of his surroundings anymore.

As this was going on, the tiger lion hybrid looks at the cub in front of her with wide eyes. Though her thoughts are frantic, she stays calm on the outside.

"Hey, hey..." Fire says softly, lowering herself to the ground as she moves onto her knees. "Sora! Sora, calm down, focus on me,

She flinches at his whines, remembering...she shakes her head, not now! Not this one! Not again...

"You aren't a-a heartless anymore. You're just scared. You're scared and that's okay; Sora, just focus on my voice," Fire grabs the bars with both hands, gripping the cold metal tightly.

"I-I can't be scared," Sora sniffles, "I'm supposed to be the hero; I'm supposed to smile and say that everything is alright, that I'm okay," Sora looks up at Fire, causing her to flinch when she sees how dark his blue eyes are; how broken,

"I didn't even want this, I just wanted to find my friends and keep them safe. But then all this _bullshit_ happened and now everyone needs me!" Sora hisses, glaring hard at nothing, "just recently I was told that even though I saved the worlds twice, I'm not worthy of being a master; and then I almost get possessed by a guy who wants to split his heart into thirteen people and wants to start another war and I just...

Sora scrubs his palms down his face, looking like the whole world is on his shoulders, "I'm just so tired. I'm so tired, but I can't stop because if I stop I'll become the very thing we fight; I'll let the enemy win. But I just want it all to be over already..."

Fire whines, maternal instinct kicking in though her child was long gone.

"Everyone has to break at some point," she says softly as her ears fall, "please, listen to me,"

Fire waits until his shaking calms, "you don't have to let the enemy win, but you don't have to keep being tired either, just..." she bites her lip, unsure of what to say before sighing as she continued.

"You aren't the first one to come here, you know. You aren't the first cub I've seen and you probably won't be the last one either," Fire closes her eyes, "So many have been where you are. I talked to them all and helped them all, one way or another, but one thing I really can't stand..." the hybrid opens her eyes, "Is seeing such a strong cub cry."

Fire gripped the bars tighter, "I hate killing. I hate feeling the blood on my coat and have it soaking my teeth, that awful copper," she cringes, "I was tired too; I hated fighting, but I had to, Sora. So do you,"

Fire smiles bitterly, "I'm still here because I have to be. I have to make sure that the cubs I meet calm down and know what's going on," a tear rolls down her cheek, "I need to keep going because I want to at least try to give them all one last good memory, but...I think you can make it."

Her hands shake as she presses her forehead to the metal, "Sora, you're tired, burdened by what you are to people, and things don't always turn out the way you want, but one good thing about us fighters is that we fight."

"When does it stop though?" Sora asks, remembering Luna's words. Was that only a couple of days ago? It seems like years, "why do innocent people have to get involved? When does the darkness stop?"

He remembers Demyx, the poor guy wasn't meant to be a fighter he knew now. He remembers Lea's face when he had tried to bring Roxas back, how desperate he had been to get the one that made him feel like he had a heart. They were all human, and they all ended up getting into this mess of a war because of one man; a psychopath that wouldn't stop and would use any means to get what he wants, tearing hearts and friends apart, possessing people, calling himself by his old master's name...why does it have to be like this?

Fire suddenly laughs. She laughs really hard, snapping the brunet out of his spiraling thoughts.

"When does darkness stop?" She repeats, mirth in her voice, "darkness never stops!" Fire yells, her own bitterness shining through as her patience snaps.

"Darkness will test your strength no matter where you come from. Darkness corrupts your heart and tears your mind to shreds! Darkness takes everything away from you if you don't fight for it!" Her eyes darkened to a steely grey, alarming Sora at the barely veiled anger there.

"Look at yourself! What the hell are you doing? They say that you're a hero, but here you are, wallowing in self pity. I get that you're tired of fighting, but if these people really are your friends, they should know how you feel!"

Her stern expression melts away as she sits back on her calves, loosening her grip on the bars, "you never know what you have until it's gone," Fire says; smiling, but it looks broken, "darkness is something we all have to face. It doesn't stop; it doesn't end; all we can do is our best."

The hybrid sighs, "Sora, it never stops, but that doesn't matter. What counts is what you decide to do about it."

Sora becomes silent after that, his brow knitting deeply in thought. She is right, the darkness never stops, it's just common sense. Darkness and Light need to exist for balance, even when one tries to take the other over. There was no point whining about it.

Sora cringes, he can just imagine Riku hitting him for acting so weak. His best friend, his first friend had been in the darkness too. He was still struggling from it, but he never gave in. If Riku, his long time friend and rival could deal with it, then Sora can too.

Sora finally smiles, a true smile that he hasn't made in a while that just seems to light up the room with it's radiance.

"You're right, I'm sorry for piling all my issues on you," he says rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Fire smiles, sighing in relief, "finally! I was worried that you were going to quit on me for a second there!" She laughs, "you and I, we're fighters Sora," her silver eyes glow once again, "We have to stick together.

"And no worries," her tail curls around the bars, twitching idly, "I've been ranted at so many times I lost count."

Sora nods, his face hardening in determination.

"Right, we-"

The sound of a rusty door swings open, bright light spilling into the room as two guards come in and drag Sora out of his cage. Sora yelps at the harsh treatment, looking back at Fire with an expression of worry.

She tries her best to smile, but it doesn't quite work, "You'll be fine, and when you get back..." this time, a sad smile plays on her lips, "I'll be here."

The door slams shut and she sighs, looking at the empty cage next to her and hoping that if Sora doesn't come back, it won't be because he died.

Meanwhile, a slightly smaller gummi ship touches down on the meadow separating the city of Arcadia and the jungles of Cattagaria. Two males step off the ship, one scowling and the other grinning as their bodies blended into the environment.

Round silver ears twitch in annoyance along with a black striped white tail as the tall red head next to him snickers, "shut it Lea."

Lea simply grins, his own black striped orange tail swishing behind him, "aww, but you make such a cute cat boy!" He teases.

Riku's glower darkens as he summons Way to Dawn and waves it threateningly, "I won't hesitate to skin you if you don't shut up fire crotch."

Lea steps back and puts his hands up in the universal sign of surrender, "alright alright, so where do you think that ball of sunshine and his friends went?"

Riku glances between the city and the jungle before turning in the direction of the former, "I sense a lot of darkness towards the city. Let's take a look."

At Lea's nod, the two head off in the direction of Arcadia, neither realizing the mess they are about to walk into.

 **.o.0.o.**

 **The time is near...**


	13. Falling into Darkness

**No, the title isn't clickbait...mostly. The moment you've all waited so long for is here! Let's get started shall we?**

 **Warnings: Cliff hanger. I'm not gonna lie to you on that.**

 **.o.0.o.**

A burst of bright light blinds Sora as he gets thrown out into the dirt of the arena. Cheers so loud they hurt his ears ring out and Sora covers the appendages, pulling himself to his knees and blinking around at the sea of spectators circling around him. Once his vision clears, he focuses on a stand that is raised higher and is more extravagant than the others, a fat cat man sitting in the middle of it with women surrounding him. Sora narrows his eyes, 'is this the guy that's causing problems here?'

"Greetings all you people who came for entertainment!" Sora jerks towards a woman in warrior garb, deep red curly hair framing her cocoa colored face as deep red lips turn up at the roar of the crowd, "and it seems we have fresh meat here to provide such entertainment as well!"

She looks down at Sora and meets his harsh glare with a smirk, "a lion cub at that...I don't think he will last long here with how skinny he is."

Sora bares his teeth and summons his keyblade, causing mixed reactions in the audience. The announcer raises a brow, "a giant key? Well, quite an interesting choice of weapon. No matter,"

She throws her arms wide, "it's time for the new meat to show the masses what he's capable of! Release the dark spots!"

Sora whips around as several heartless appear, chittering and jerking around before focusing on him. Something keeps them from moving though and Sora takes a moment to wonder what it could be.

"To make things interesting," the announcer goes on, "you will be allowed two partners to aid you."

Cages rise up from the ground and display several hulking and savage animals, but the ones that catch Sora's attention are...

"Donald! Goofy!"

"Sora!"

Sora runs to the cage they are in, grabbing the bars and shaking them as the cockatiel and tortoise meet him on the other side of the metal, "guys, are you alright?" He says, relieved that they seem mostly unharmed.

"We're fine! They just took our cage and put us with these other smucks," Donald replies, motioning over to the other animals, "what happened to you?"

"The same, though the lady I met with is actually really nice, considering," Sora feels the back of his neck and grins.

The announcer frowns at this display, "an interesting choice," she says shakes her head and repeats, "no matter."

She waves her hand and the cage dissolves, the rest of the animals sinking into the ground nearby, "you can't go back on your decision now cub," the woman says with a tone of finality before raising her hands again.

"Let the battle begin!"

Sora turns, dropping into his battle stance as the heartless are released from whatever spell kept them in place.

"You ready guys?" He says, a look of determination hardening his features.

Donald brandishes his staff in his beak as Goofy pulls up the rear.

"Right behind ya' Sora!"

 **.o.0.o.**

Meanwhile, Riku and Lea walk through the massive blue city, both keeping their guards up as their eyes sweep over the crowd of people.

"So how do ya' think we'll be able to find 'em in this big place?"

Riku shakes his head, "Sora has a strange ability to draw trouble to him, whether he wants it or not. Believe me, sooner or later we'll find them."

It takes a moment for the silveret to realize that Lea isn't beside him anymore. When he looks at the red head, he finds Lea gazing off to the side and up.

"I believe you," is all he says, voice flat in exasperation.

Riku follows Lea's gaze and finds his own eyes widening at the site of Sora, Donald and Goofy on a large screen, appearing to be fighting a massive wave of heartless in an arena of some sort.

"Please tell me he didn't volunteer for that..." Riku growls.

"Oh no," a woman on his left says. When he looks at her, he gets taken aback at the look of hatred on her face as she glares up at the screen, "he didn't volunteer for it, at least not of his own will."

"What's the story here ma'am?" Lea comes up to Riku's side and flashes the woman a charming smile. The woman's face flushes when she looks before turning her eyes back to the screen.

"He tried to mug me, so he and his cohorts are paying for it by fighting in the arena. I hope he dies a brutal death," she hisses spitefully.

"Mugged you?" Riku parrots, gob-smacked at the very notion. Sora would never try hurting innocent people, the teen would rather eat nothing but brussel sprouts (his least favorite food) for every meal than do that, "ma'am, I think there's been a misunderstanding here-"

"Are you with him?" She says, turning a suspicious glare on him.

Riku opens his mouth, but Lea's hand on his shoulder keeps him from saying something, "no no ma'am, we're just trying to get all the facts here," the red head reassures, still with the Casanova smile on his face.

The woman flushes again, completely disarmed, "oh, well then...I apologize for the suspicion. But," she narrows her eyes, "you'd do well not to ask too many questions here, _'he'_ wouldn't like it."

Both males raise a brow at the warning as the woman walks away. They look back at the screen and see Sora still fighting, Donald and Goofy knocked out for the count. Riku winkles his browline at the site of Sora who appears to be struggling with something. How does he know this?

Sora is paler than normal, and Riku knows it's not because he's seeing Sora through a camera. He keeps slipping up as if he is distracted, getting nailed in the back by a large neo shadow and just barely dodge rolling out of the way of a flame throwing Fat Bandit heartless. Riku knows the brunet can destroy these heartless easily and he doesn't _look_ that injured, so what is...

"We need to get in there," Lea mutters and Riku can't agree more, a bad feeling settling in his gut. Something is telling Riku to get to Sora before it's too late. His instincts haven't steered him wrong before, not since he was fifteen, so Riku follows it without a second thought.

"Let's go," he says, running in the direction with the most darkness, Lea following without a word.

 **.o.0.o.**

'There's too many, they just keep coming.'

Sora dodges another flame attack from the Fat Bandit, lunging behind it and delivering three consecutive strikes to it's back before jumping away again. He collapses to his knee, using the Kingdom Key as a crutch as he tries to draw in a breath. It's not two seconds later that he gets bulldozed over by a Large Body and face plants into the dirt, coughing and spitting to get the sand out of his mouth. He glares up at the ornate chair where the large cat sits, chin resting in his palm as he regards Sora with mild interest.

 ** _"You won't be able to win without me,"_** his dark self says, never dropping that seductive purr and and making Sora's stomach twist at the promise in them, **_"let me take over, show these pesky feline sheep that it is a mistake to try to control us~"_**

"I'm not a monster..." Sora whispers not for the first time since his comrades were knocked out. He jumps away from before he can get hit by an attack by a Yellow Opera, reacting more on. Some kind of warrior's reflex rather than actual awareness at this point.

 ** _"Hmm...yes, you aren't,"_** Sora's eyes bulge at the Voice actually agreeing with him for once, " ** _but then again, compared to you, these creatures are true demons; manipulating the populace with fear and thinking they can control the heartless."_**

"Don't you dare use Luna's words against me!" Sora snaps, glaring at the ground.

 ** _"But you know it's true!"_** The Voice insists, **_"compared to these people, that man, heartless are puppies. But you,"_** Sora stops fighting, unable to ignore honey words anymore.

 ** _"You are the King. You are stronger than these mindless creatures. Something that cannot be controlled or manipulated by fear,"_** Sora shivers at the impression of something cold leaning down to his ear, his sapphire eyes losing their shine and dulling into a blank, midnight blue.

 ** _"Give yourself to me...and I'll make them pay for all they've done to us. You won't need to worry about anything anymore; it would be so much simpler, no?"_**

Sora feels himself falling the more the Voice talks, he tries fighting it, but he suddenly feels too exhausted with it all; he doesn't want to fight anymore. Cold envelopes him, as if he decided to lay down in a snow drift for a nap and it gets harder to draw breath; like trying to breath with a pillow pressed against his face.

His vision becomes black and he sees an outline of his mirror image before him; but darker, his usual sunny smile twisted into an insane grin with sharp, shark like teeth. Yellow eyes with slitted pupils glitter in triumph as Anti-Sora lunges forward and wraps it's arms around him, sharp black claws digging into his back and causing him to open his mouth in a silent scream. He hears two distant voice call his name in panic, both familiar yet he can't place them in his hazy state.

The last thing that he thinks before everything fades away is, 'Fire...Riku...everyone...I'm sorry...'

Anti-Sora grins sadistically as the last of the real Sora's light goes out.

 ** _"I win..."_**


	14. Putting the darkness to sleep

**Sorceress here! Here's a little snippet of what you've all been waiting for! Hope you all enjoy and pardon for the lateness; I was really busy yesterday and didn't really have the time. *Rubs back of head sheepishly***

 **Warnings: Kind of rushed ending, I apologize in advance for that. This is the last chapter of the world though, so there's a plus side!** **Also death of an oc.**

 **Disclaimer: The world is mine, though it's a bit more complicated on the stuff I've shown here, and the ocs are mine. Fire belongs to FireWolf13th though, she wanted a little more screen time so... :)**

 **.o.0.o.**

Riku and Lea, after fighting off dozens of guards, find themselves in an underground room that is barely lit with torches and lined with empty cages.

"So where to next hot shot?" Lea says as he twirls his chakrams in an almost lazy manner, though his tone and the slight tension in his shoulders give away his concern.

"I'm thinking..." Riku growls, the bad feeling in his gut getting worse.

"My, all kinds of new visitors today."

Riku swings around and points his keyblade at a cage with a woman in it. He blinks at the strange marking and scars, the first thing coming to mind being a Tiger; but her markings are too light for that.

The woman glares at Riku, her tail twitching to show her irritation, "if you don't point that thing somewhere else, you'll find yourself regretting it," she says testily.

Riku lowers his weapon, still wary of the woman, "who are you?"

She snorts, putting her nose in the air, "how rude, didn't your mother ever teach you manners?"

Lea steps forward, putting a hand on Riku's shoulder in warning before smiling at her, "I apologize on behalf of my friend, but I'm afraid we're both a little on edge at the moment. You see, we're looking for our friend and we saw him up on the big screen in the city. Did you happen to see a teenager with spiky brown hair? Would probably be bubbly, with two companions?"

The cat woman gave a short laugh, her silver eyes becoming amused, "that's more like it! Now lets see here," she looks up, "I don't know about two companions, but I did see a spiky haired lion cub before he was dragged off by the dickbags called guards. Not much of a bubbly personality though..."

"Do you know where he is?" Riku says, sounding slightly desperate. The woman sighs before looking them squarely in the eye.

"Where else? The arena of course."

"Thank you," Lea says cordially before banishing his chakrams and summoning his keyblade, pointing it at the woman's cage. She tenses, thinking that Lea is going to attack before a click echoes through the dungeon and the cage door falls open.

She blinks, slowly climbing out of the cage, "neat trick," she stretches herself out, standing fully on her feet and smirking, "thanks for that, and to answer albino's question: the names Fire."

She saunters by, trailing her tail on Lea's leg on her way by, "hope to see you around. Oh, and tell Sora to never stop fighting; he's a good kid."

They stare after Fire, both of their jaws dropped at the cat woman's blasé attitude before shaking it off and heading towards the next door.

They slam the door open just as Sora gets completely shrouded in darkness. Riku calls out Sora's name in alarm as he runs towards him, Lea bringing up the rear. The heartless around Sora begin chittering as they back off, sensing the power that the brunet gets flooded with and instinctively wanting to get away from it.

Riku halts a foot away from his friend as he drops to the ground, his sea-glass eyes widening in recognition of anti-form. He looks around and sees Donald and Goofy still out cold, and wonders frantically how Sora can be in this drive form without them. Sora moves his head around, eyes shining like lanterns as they seem to seek something out, they land on something above and behind Riku before Sora hisses and in a dizzying blur, lunges at the stands.

The audience, who were silent from the strange transformation, gasp and scream as Sora makes his way to the largest stand where the leader would be. A red haired woman gets in his way and brandishes a staff, but Sora whips around her in a flash, kicking her relentlessly before moving on.

Riku curses and begins jumping from stand to stand, trying to catch up to his shadowed friend before he does something he'll regret. But Sora is already there, cornering the leader who has abandoned his chair and backed away into a corner.

"Sora don't!" Riku exclaims, but Sora doesn't listen and sends a blast at the fat man, engulfing him in darkness with a scream of agony. Riku freezes on the edge of the balcony, shocked.

'Sora just...he just...' Riku can't even bring himself to believe it.

 ** _"Tch. This was the leader they were so terrified of? What a weakling he is."_**

Riku's eyes snap to the shadowed teen; did he just-? No, Sora has never spoken in this form before! What happened to him?!

Sora slowly turns towards Riku, eyes shining brightly as he inched his way towards the silveret on all fours, **_"ah~the one touched by darkness...you'll make a fine meal~"_**

Riku's eyes widen as he summons The Way To Dawn, automatically spreading his feet out slightly as he takes on his battle stance. His mind is still reeling however, and that proves to be a mistake as he doesn't catch Sora lunging at him, ready to rip his throat out.

He doesn't get a chance to though, the same red headed woman from before jumps in the way and knocks Sora aside with her pole, "keep your guard up kid! You won't live spacing out like that!" She says, standing at the ready.

Riku snaps out of it, eyes sharpening as he focus' on Sora again. Sora hisses hatefully and begins circling them, nothing but a black blur in his wake as he picks up speed. Riku and the woman stand back to back, getting ready for the strike.

And strike Sora does, apparently tired of waiting for one of them to make the first move, Sora swipes at Riku's face, the silveret blocking the sharp claws just in time before they can do any damage. He parries, doing a side cut that Sora jumps out of the of before he glides back in. The warrioress blocks him this time, sweeping the top of her staff at Sora and knocking him senseless before Riku hits him on the head with the back of his keyblade, plowing Sora into the ground.

Sora jumps away before they can attack again, blank face never leaving them and gold eyes with far too much intelligence sizing them up. Riku gets another shock when Sora speaks again, voice raspy even though there is no mouth for the whispering voice to come from.

 ** _"So, my prey is strong after all. Just what I would expect from his so called friend."_**

Riku wrinkles his brow at the words. Who was Sora talking about? What did he mean 'so called friend'?

 ** _"No matter,"_** it continues as if dismissing Riku's unvoiced thoughts, **_"I believe I shall especially enjoy leaving you broken and beaten on the ground dream eat-ER?!"_**

Sora suddenly clutches his head, shaking it savagely as the warriors watch, **_"No! You can't stop me now foolish light! He is my pre-"_**

 _"Not prey! I won't let you hurt them! Not him!"_

Riku blanches back at the more familiar voice, "Sora!" He exclaims.

 _"Riku! I-"_

 ** _"No! Your heart is mine! Stop fighting me brat!"_**

The black smog staining Sora's skin lights up to reveal Sora's face, eyes still blindingly gold but flickering as tears run down his cheeks, "Riku...help...me..."

"If you don't put him out of his misery, I will," the warrioress says curtly, red lips thinned and forrest green eyes glimmering in painful empathy.

Riku grits his teeth, trying to figure out what to do. He doesn't want to hurt his friend, but if he doesn't do _something_...

He doesn't have to decide though, because he hears a terse command to, "sleep!" and a white ball of light hits Sora in the back. The brunet drops like a rock as the last visages of Darkness fade away and he collapses to the ground in a snoring heap. Riku glares at Lea, who had snuck up behind Sora.

"'Bout time you decided to help!"

"Hey, I didn't see you doing anything," Lea shoots back, oozing smugness as he dispels his keyblade, "so sorry the damn heartless down there held me up and I thought you could handle it."

"Enough," the red haired cat woman sends both boys a harsh glare, "you don't have time to be arguing! I'd suggest you take this one and find him some help; he seems to need it."

"What about his charges?" Riku asks. Sure he wanted to help Sora, but he also wants to make sure there isn't going to be any man hunts after him. The woman waves him off.

"I'll settle his charges, he is going to be considered a hero after all with killing the leader, though heaven knows why the the people were afraid of him. He had a lot of money and influence, but he was a blow hard if you ask me."

"You seem mighty bitter, why didn't you try and stage a coup then?"

She glares hard at Lea, who flinches back at the threatening presence the woman emits, "you want to try seizing control when the son-of-a-bitch threatens to harm what's yours? He banished two girls who I saw as my daughters to the jungles of Cattagaria and threatened death upon them if I dared to betray him. He had the influence to do it too."

Her eyes soften a bit as she looks down at the sleeping teen, "he did a huge favor for me killing that bastard, regardless of his state of mind," she smirks, "maybe now I can get my sun and moon children to return home, where they belong."


	15. Into the nightmare

**I own nothing of course.**

 **Let's get this show on the road!**

 **~o0o~**

After saying goodbye to Maia, the woman who fought along side Riku and the new Queen of Arcadia, Riku and Lea round up the fallen trio of Sora, Donald and Goofy and return to the mysterious tower.

They all stand in the infirmary, surrounding the brunet in question who is twitching fitfully in his sleep.

Yen Sid strokes his long beard as he hummed in thought, "so you believe the potion used on him has brought the darkness out of his heart?" He summarises after Riku and King Mickey's friends explained both their sides of what happened.

"It makes sense," Riku responds, "from what I gather, the emperor said that he went through similar symptoms, so Yzma might have used the potion on him."

Yen Sid closes his eyes, thinking about what Riku said, "I do not believe this has happened out of nowhere, you say it took three days before the potion took hold of Emperor Kuzco, however being one of the seven warriors of light it should have taken Sora much longer to succumb to it; if it would effect him at all."

"Are you saying that Sora was already battling his darkness when he got hit with the potion?" Mickey asks.

"Perhaps..."

Riku is having a hard time wrapping his brain around this idea. The reason that Sora could even use anti-form was because he'd sacrificed himself to free Kairi's heart, which also unleashed his darkness. But Sora told him he was fine, that even if he couldn't remember being in that form he was alright.

 _"Way to go Riku!"_

He remembers Sora grabbing his shoulder as he says this, a big grin on his face even as his ocean blue eye were darkened with envy and sorrow.

 _"I just gotta do something, don't worry I'll be back soon."_

Sora saying this before he left on his journey that he refused to tell anyone about, his grin not as bright as normal and eyes dark with swirling emotion. The heartless count had gone down considerably during that time as well.

 _"Just...thinking about what we're gonna do about the upcoming war is all."_

Said with another grin, but Riku had felt something off with it. He just chose not to pay attention to that feeling, not wanting to believe that something was wrong.

Is this his fault? Riku can't help but wonder as his eyes lock on to the squirming brunet on the cot. He was the one who started this whole mess in the beginning, Sora was almost as pure as a princess of light; he shouldn't have to deal with this in the first place.

"...were to go into his heart..." Riku hears snapping him out of his reverie.

"Huh?"

Lea rolls his eyes, "the Master said, if you go into Sora's heart you might be able to battle the potion off from the inside. You are his personal dream eater right?"

Riku stares blankly at the group, "well yeah, but couldn't I do the same thing I did with Kuzco?"

Yen Sid shakes his head, "I'm afraid Sora is going to need more than a simple expulsion of darkness. If I am correct and Sora has already been dealing with his doubts before he was doused, his heart will need reassurance, which I believe you are the only one capable of giving to him."

"And Sora is still in there somewhere," Mickey interjects, "You saw him fighting it right? So if you manage to find him, you may help him have the strength to fight the darkness."

Riku can't help but smile at that, remembering Sora's motto. "'My friends are my power,'" he looks back at the sleeping boy on the bed, a troubled look on his face as he moans and moves his head. Even now he was fighting something off.

Riku nods, his lips thinning and eyes narrowing in determination. He summons Way to Dawn and takes a couple steps back, giving everyone a smirk as he raises the keyblade, "I'll bring him back."

The others smile, nodding in encouragement, "good luck Riku," The mouse king says.

Riku tilts his head down and focuses his energy. His body fades and little balls of light float from him to Sora, allowing him to enter the dream.

Unfortunately, it is at this moment that a loud crash is heard. Lea, Mickey and Kairi immediately summon their keyblades and head down to the bottom floor. When they get there the tower as well as the outside grounds are swarming with heartless, with a tubby guy standing in the middle of the chaos laughing.

"Pete! What are you doing here?!" Mickey says clutching his keyblade and dropping into a ready battle stance.

"Bwaha! What do ya' think I'm doin' here mousy boy? I'm here to gather more heartless fer' Maleficent's army!"

The heartless swarm the keyblade wielders and the fight begins, none of them noticing a large human, this one bulky instead of flabby, sneaking behind them into the tower.

The man creeps along the walls, humming in an upbeat tune, as his black eyes dart around the room. Still making his own theme music, he tip-toes up the many stairs and looks through each room before coming to the infirmary.

He sees the sleeping boy and smirks, finding his target. He sneaks over and is about to pick Sora up when he gets blasted into a wall by a gust of wind.

"What d'ya think you're doing?!" Donald squawks, glaring at the intruder with staff raised. Goofy stands behind him, shield held in front of him with his own determined look as he prepares to protect his friends. The man panics and runs over to snatch Sora up and make a break for it when once again he's thrown away, but not by a spell this time.

Sulfer yellow eyes gaze out of a pure black face blankly before Anti-Sora jumps over the other occupants in the room and runs on all fours out the door, ignoring Donald and Goofy's cries as he heads down to the first floor of the tower.

 **~o0o~**

Riku opens his eyes and finds himself laying in a living room. He looks around in confusion, finding the room to be strangely familiar until it dawns on him where he is.

Though slightly distorted, this was Sora's old house that he'd lived in before his father died. Sora and his mother had ended up moving out of the small town and closer to the beach and Riku's house back then. Riku smiles sadly as old memories flash through his mind. Sure it was a longer walk for him back then, but there were a lot of good memories of the old house.

He gets pulled out of his reminiscing by a hissing sound and gets back on track, heading towards a U-shaped hallway that he knows was not part of the house in real life. Before he enters the corridor, he senses movement to his left and hides behind the doorway.

Darkness pulses and gathers at the start of the left hallway, taking a familiar shape. Riku's eyes widen at the form of Roxas, the deep blue eyes of the nobody darkened even more with shadows under them and hard with rage. Roxas goes to the corner and peeks around, only to draw back when a light shines down the hall at him. The light disappears and Roxas walks to the right hallway. Jaw set, he rounds the corner and continues down the hallway, the Oblivion and Oath Keeper Keyblades appearing in his hands from the shadows. Riku follows, careful not to by seen as he watches another light appear through a crack in a door at the end before Roxas charges. The door slams shut at the last second and Roxas begins banging and slashing the door, trying to get it open.

 ** _"You stupid brat, let me in!"_** Roxas growls, his voice distorted by a demonic overlap. The door remains shut and Roxas, tired of waiting apparently, slips back into the shadows.

More shadows move and Riku quickly hides behind the first doorway again. This time the shadows form too identical people. Riku's jaw drops when he recognizes Namine and Kairi, hiding behind the corner as well before Kairi sneaks down the hall. The place is so quiet that Riku can clearly hear what is being said.

 ** _"Let me in, I need to see him,"_** Kairi asks, the innocence in her tone ruined by the same demonic distortion in her voice. A slashing sound cuts through the air and an unholy screech rips out of the imposter's throat before it grows silent once more, the only thing breaking it is the sound of the door clicking shut.

Riku finally understands what is going on, the darkness of course knows how dependant Sora is on his friends and is using it against him. The very thing that gives Sora the strength to fight twisted into his very weakness. Riku clenches his teeth, Way to Dawn appearing in his hand with just a thought as he realizes why Sora made him promise what he did.

The darkness thinks to use them to get to Sora, to weaken him with nightmares. But Riku is Sora's Dream Eater, his darkness. And he will show those nightmares once and for all, that they are making a big mistake with messing with Riku's light.

 **~o0o~**

 **A guest had asked me on another story (oddly enough not one that has to do with Kingdom Hearts, but that's not the point here) what pairing AkuRoku is. Since they used a guest name I can't PM them, but this story actually has something to do with Kingdom Hearts, so I thought I'd answer it here.**

 **For those of you who aren't seasoned shippers, I'll give you a quick rundown. If you already know what I'm about to explain, then you can ignore this, if you don't, I'll try to be brief about it.**

 **AkuRoku (or RokuAku, depends) is the ship name for Axel and Roxas. It's a relationship between the two that's usually romantic, but can be used to describe their relationship regardless. Now, I don't know why it's called that (asides that it's a mash up of Axel-kun and Roxas-kun, but that's my interpretation), but that's what it's called and I guess it kinda stuck. *shrugs***

 **I hope this cleared that up Matt, thank you for reading my stories! If anyone has any more questions, more particularly on the story itself, feel free to ask me! :)**

 **I'll say this once more however, there is no romance in this story unless you choose to take it that way, nothing is beyond what the Kingdom Hearts games do. I guess it's hard to believe considering the majority of my stories, but for this one I wanted to focus more on overcoming one's own "darkness" so to speak, and what happens if you try to ignore it, or assume someone is incapable of going though similar things. Both Riku and Sora have gone through some shit, whether you go off the franchise in itself or the story here and I was wanting to do a kind of "what if" sort of thing with Sora and how the others would act if he actually fell to his dark side. I'm more focusing on how they would grow from it, if you want to take it as romantic then go on, most people do, but there are no official hook ups here.**

 **Sorry, I just felt I had to explain that side a little bit more as well. Anyways! Thank you all for taking the time toto read this as well as the story itself! I hope everyone has a great week, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **~Sorceress**


	16. Backfire

In the waking world, the three key wielders slash through more heartless, though they are quickly starting to slow down. Everytime they destroyed one, three more would appear. They aren't sure if they can keep this up. Just as they're about to be overwhelmed, the heartless suddenly pull back, chittering in what almost sounds like fear. But that can't be...right?

"What're ya' doin'?! Keep at 'em!" Pete orders. The heartless begin swarming again when a strange and bone chilling screech cuts through the air followed by a new heartless, but instead of attacking the warriors, it goes for...the heartless.

Mickey, Kairi and Lea watch with eyes and jaws agape as this slightly larger heartless begins slashing and tearing the black shadows as if they were tissue paper, chills coursing up and down their spine as this new heartless whips around in a frenzy, occasionallyripping apart and eating the bug like creatures as if it's a starving animal. Pete stands in place, the same look on his face before his large mouth curls upward.

"Oh Maleficent! Your new pet's here!"

A black portal appears next to him and the dark Fairy steps out, a triumphant smirk on her face, "At last," she says, "the brat is finally mine!" She lifts a hand towards The creature that is tearing apart her army.

"Freeze!"

The heartless stops in place, yellow eyes focusing in on Maleficent and the warriors finally get a look at what it is.

"Sora?!"

 **~o0o~**

Meanwhile, Riku takes it upon himself to try to get rid of the imposters trying to get to Sora. He still hasn't gone to the room yet, even with his worry he figures he would be more helpful outside the room rather than in. He hears a clock chime and the shadows recede, giving Riku a moment to catch his breath. That doesn't last long however when the place he's in shifts into one lone hallway.

With his night vision, Riku sees another familiar girl, the same one that he had seen sitting on the bent paopu tree when he woke up Sora after the Mark of Mastery exam. But she is also different, the same shadows under her eyes as the other imposters. She slouches in a chair at the end of the hallway, giving the impression of a lifeless doll, but Riku is aware that she is very much alive. Riku steps forward, prepared to get rid of this nightmare as well, but a flash of light abruptly appearing in the dark hall blinds him.

When he is able to see again, Riku finds a brunet child standing infront of him, the Kingdom Key in his trembling hands. In the darkness Riku sees the nightmare grin, malicious intent in her deep blue eyes as she slowly begins to slide off the chair. The boy's Keyblade glows, giving light to the hallway and the girl immediately sets herself on the chair, as if she had never moved.

Riku feels another shock to his system when he recognizes the boy, "Sora? Is that you?"

The boy whips around, keyblade pointed at Riku in an attempt to protect himself, "No Riku please! You promised-"

Seeing it's chance, the nightmare dashes forward, hands raised to grab Sora. Acting on reflex, Riku lunges past Sora and stabs his keyblade into her chest. The girl glares up at him silently, disappearing into thin air.

Riku lets his weapon vanish before turning back to Sora, the now ten year old still frozen on position.

"Riku...you actually...?"

Riku gives one of his usual smirks before ruffling Sora's hair, "I promised that I would stay with you no matter what, didn't I?"

Sora's eyes grow just a little bit bigger before tears gather and he throws himself at Riku, his Kingdom Key fading upon being released.

"Riku...Riku's here..." He says, relief evident in the wavering child's voice. Riku smiles for real and returns the embrace, just glad that Sora is safe for now.

 **~o0o~**

"Sora?!"

Mickey, Lea and Kairi stand in shock at this new development while Pete gaffaws and Maleficent simply smirks. Anti-Sora turns and looks at the three heroes for a moment before turning back to the evil fairy and her lackey, his feet bouncing behind him like he can't stand to sit still.

"Yes, your dear friend has finally submitted to his darkness," Maleficent says as the smirk grows, "he is now under my control, just like every heartless in the worlds."

"And there ain't nothin' you nimrods can do about it neither!" Pete boasts before turning to Maleficent, "I say we turn him loose on his old palies, give him some actual hearts to eat eh?"

"Hmm," Maleficent thinks for a moment before saying, "I don't see why not, it will finally get rid of the pesky Warriors of Light once and for all. Attack them my heartless, eat their hearts like you are supposed to." She commands.

Anti doesn't move from his spot, continuing to gaze at the two villains blankly. This causes a frown to appear on Maleficent and Pete's face, "what are you waiting for? Do as I command, destroy them!" Maleficent bellows pointing at the trio of Keyblade holders.

 ** _"I serve no one..."_** Anti hisses, surprising the two.

"Hey! Since when can you talk?!" Pete exclaims.

"All heatless obey me, including you," Maleficent insists, a very displeased expression taking her green face.

A hissing snicker comes from the large heartless before a wide chilling grin somehow appears, **_"You really think you have them controlled? I may hunt them myself, but if anything I have more control over them than you..."_** The ant like creatures around him suddenly turn towards the evil fairy, chittering menacingly as they inch towards the two villains.

"Maleficent, what're they doin'?" Pete exclaims, his voice trembling.

"Stop you foolish heartless! I am you master!" Maleficent says, backing away.

 ** _"The thing about heartless that I'm sure you're aware,"_** Anti says, **_"is that we eat hearts. It can be the bright ones,"_** yellow eyes narrow and the the grin on his face would put the Cheshire Cat to shame, **_"but we are more partial to the ones with darkness, and we can sense the greed in yours. Did you really think that you were immune?"_**

The heartless surround Maleficent and Pete. Maleficent growls and opens a dark portal, quickly escaping into it with Pete not far behind.

"Hey! Wait fer me!"

The portal disappears and the heartless chitter in discontent over the loss of their next meal. Kairi takes this moment to hesitantly step forward, "Sora...?" She asks slowly.

Anti turns towards her, still with that unsettling grin, **_"aw, still want your dear friend? Sorry but he's mi-"_** He stumbles a little, the dark shadows around him flicking and he snarls, **_"That damn Dream Eater...no matter."_**

The heartless, despite the fact that Anti destroyed most of them in a brutal way, surround him causing Anti-Sora to sink into the ground.

 ** _"Nothing they do matters; they can't protect him forever. Soon he will be mine."_**

Kairi runs over, reaching out towards the dark pool, "Sora!" The heartless disappear, leaving the three warriors behind.

 **~o0o~**

 **Sorry that this was late, I've been busy with other things in my life as of late. I'll try to keep this going on it's consistent schedule though, so don't think I'm abandoning this. :)**

 **I hope everyone has a great week and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**

 **~Sorceress**


	17. Ready to face the Darkness

After the incident in the hallway, the world shifts again and Riku finds himself in a bedroom. Riku looks around and his eyes land on another boy his age.

"Roxas?"

No, he looks like Roxas, but there are differences. The green gold armor on his shoulder and under his shirt along with the strange keyblade making it obvious when Riku really looks, "no wait, your Ventus aren't you?"

The blond boy recovers from his surprise over Riku appearing and nods, smiling in greeting. Riku pulls away from Sora a bit, the now little boy refusing to let go completely as the silveret gauges the other, "have you been helping Sora?"

Ventus nods again and Riku wonders why the blond isn't talking when he spoke before during the Mark of Mastery. Sora must have notice Riku's confusion because he says almost sagely, "he's focusing his energy on fighting off the monsters, he doesn't have the strength to talk; he prefers action rather than words."

Riku makes an oh sound before giving Ventus a genuine smile, "so I guess we'll both be fighting off the nightmares together huh?"

Ventus snickers, smirking while Sora looks at the two older boys in confusion. However,

 ** _"I see you there~"_**

Sora freezes, his arms tightening around the silveret as Riku and Ventus summon their keyblades.

Yellow eyes appear out of the darkness, seeming to glare at the three boys. Sora whimpers, his grip on Riku's legs preventing the teen's ability to drop into a ready stance, while Ventus edges around them with his own glare. The yellow eyes narrow at this show of protectiveness,

 ** _"You cannot defend his heart forever..."_** The shadow disappears and in its place are Kairi and Namine.

 ** _"Sora~"_** The nightmares reach out, hands clawed as they try to grab Sora with hateful eyes. Riku finally unlatches Sora from around his legs and together with Ventus, attack the shadows impersonating their friends. The girls fade away with with an outraged scream, the noise echoing what seems like seconds after they vanish.

Sora collapses to the floor, hands covering his ears and tears streaming down his little face as he begins to sob. Ventus goes and crouches down by him, enveloping the poor child into a hug and shushing him. Riku watches the interaction and can't help but wonder, why is Sora a child in the first place?

When Sora's crying tapers down to a few sniffles, Ventus pulls back and pats the boy's shoulder, smiling and nodding at him, Which Sora returns with a grateful one of his own. He summons the Kingdom Key and flashes a light at the bed for a few moments before walking over and sitting down.

Riku decides to sit next to him, blue-green eyes peek over as Sora draws his knees to his chest and rests his chin and arms on them. The poor boy looks so tired at this point, which Riku can somewhat understand. Everything goes quiet for a while as Riku's sharp eyes scan the room and his hearing tries to pick up any suspicious sounds.

"Brings back memories a little huh?"

Riku jumps a bit at the small voice and looks at Sora. The boy hadn't moved an inch, but Riku is aware that Sora can feel his eyes, "what do you mean?" He inquires softly, hoping Sora elaborates.

"You use to come over and sit with me when I was scared. I was always afraid of the dark, but you always made me feel better," Sora says, his mouth twitching up a bit as he talks.

Ah, Riku remembers those nights. Before they'd met Kairi, Riku made a habit out of coming over during thunder storms, which happened often on the tiny islands. Even though he would always be scolded about how dangerous that was, first by Sora on the same night and then by both their parents the next morning, he'd never wanted Sora to be alone. Even these days, he would sleep over at Sora's house during a hurricane when they were on Destiny Islands. Riku made it even more of a habit with the nightmares at Yen Sid's tower before Sora began pushing him away.

Sora seems to read his mind because he glances up at Riku, sea blue eyes made an even deeper blue in sadness, "I never meant to push you away Riku. I was just so mad all the time. When the Mark of Mastery exam happened I felt so weak, you always have to save me," Sora looks away, eyeing the closet, "you even have to save me now, I hate that. I wanna be the one who saves you for once."

"Hey, you have saved me," Sora's head turns and he gives Riku a questioning gaze, "when Xehanort's heartless possessed me, I was surrounded by darkness. The only thing that kept me fighting was you."

Riku gently smiles at the boy's surprise, "even now you save me. I could have fallen back to the darkness at any time, I almost did, it's my memory of you that keeps me strong."

Sora turns his head away but Riku catches the slight pink on his cheeks in the dark. The grin turns into a smirk and he ruffles the brunet's hair, Sora squeaking indignantly at the action. Sora bats his hand away, but still gives Riku a smile as he stands from the bed.

"If I did so much, then I can't let you down! I'll stay strong and fight!" He says confidently. Riku sees Ventus smile and nod, his eyes conveying gratitude even as he subtly shifts into a defensive stance and jerks his head towards the door, the message loud and clear: 'Thanks for that, but we need to focus.'

Just in time too, for nightmare Roxas slams open the door, his two keyblades flashing as he lunges at Sora. Instead of being frozen like before, Sora hold his own keyblade up and blocks. Roxas seems almost surprised before he shakes it off and growls.

 ** _"Why did it have to be you?! You're a pathetic little child, why did I have to go back?!"_**

Sora flinches at the questions but stands firm, throwing Roxas off him. Riku goes to intercept, but Ventus blocks him with his own keyblade, eyes squinted as he watches the fight. Riku gives him a confused raise of the brow before looking back at the confrontation and noticing what was going on. There is a spark in the brunet's eyes that wasn't there earlier. Riku understands that there is something different about this.

Roxas continues to try to strike Sora down, the smaller boy keeping his weapon up and blocking, dodge rolling when Roxas tries a different move. Riku can see that Sora is getting tired, but he doesn't back down.

" ** _I am not a tool! I am not you! Why can't I exist too?! It's all your fault!"_** Roxas snarls with the same demonic overlap that apparently comes with being a nightmare. Sora finally sees an opening and strikes, his keyblade slashing across Roxas' chest. Roxas yelps in shock and falls to his knees, hand clutched over his chest as darkness swirls around him and blood red tears fall. Sora steps towards him and gives Roxas a look of sadness.

"Why do you think that you're a tool Roxas?" Sora asks.

The boy in question glares up at Sora before he slumps, the nightmare showing signs of fatigue at last, **_"that's what he told me, the guy in the red robes. He said I was a tool, that I wasn't meant to exist."_**

Riku flinches, remembering his time with DiZ and wishing now that he stood up for Roxas more. He should have realized how this affected the Nobody. They watch as Roxas bangs his fist on the floor in frustration, **_"why? Even if I wasn't supposed to exist, even if it wasn't real, it still felt like it to me,"_** he squeezes his eyes shut,

 ** _"I never even got to tell Axel that I was sorry..."_**

Riku notices Ven's eyes flick to the closet but when he gives him a look Ventus discreetly shakes his head. Sora doesn't pay attention to the exchange and smiles sadly.

"You aren't a tool and you're not me Roxas, you are your own person. I'm sorry you had to go through that hurt."

Roxas looks up at Sora in astonishment. The little boy gets closer to the shadow and Riku almost steps in again, but both his and Ventus' eyes widen when instead of being attacked Sora manages to hug the kneeling blond, the boy ignoring the chill coming off the Nobody.

"I'm sure Lea understands, and you will see him again; I'm sure of it. I will help you get your own body again, I promise."

Sora says this with such conviction that Riku can't help but smile. He knows that Sora will always keep his promises. Judging by Ventus' smile, he knows it too.

Roxas stays frozen for a moment, his jaw dropped at the declaration before his face softens and he hugs back. Bright little sparkles of light emit from him and his eyes look peaceful.

"Thank you Sora," Roxas says, his voice now normal. He fades away in a flash of light and Sora drops his arms, sighing before looking up at the two teens with a bright smile. Riku returns it and finally walks over to ruffle Sora's hair once more, all silently thankful that that part was over.

But the nightmare itself isn't over yet, there are still other monsters that they need to fight. But Sora is finally ready to face them and Riku is here to help him.

With his two protectors by his side, he will finally be able to face this darkness, and Riku is determined to help them win.


	18. Thoughts

**Warnings: A little bit of filler, I just wanted to show some more people's opinions on Sora. You get another rare Point of View too though, so tell me what you think! Constructive Criticism is appreciated!** **Let's get this show on the road!**

 **.o.0.o.**

"You still haven't found him?"

Mickey looks over at Kairi and shakes his head, his shoulders and head dropping with her own not far behind. It had been three days since Sora had disappeared and in extension, Riku as well. The King and Lea had looked almost all over the worlds and still nothing. Kairi hates having to stay behind, but her friends said that if Sora and Roku somehow returned she should be there to greet them.

Kairi feels so worthless, what's the point of being a keyblade wielder if she can't do anything to help? She feels like she's been forced back in time, when she was made to wait on Destiny Islands for her best friends to return to her. It seems that all she's capable of doing is waiting and Kairi's getting sick of it.

She remembers a couple days back when they first started, Sora seemed to be awake and yet Riku hadn't reappeared. When they all pondered on what it could mean, Master Yen Sid had come up with a theory.

 _"It could be that Sora is not truly awake," the master had said as he stroked his beard, "Perhaps his body reacted on the instincts of self preservation, at least at first, and the darkness in his heart took over afterwards."_

 _"So Sora is still asleep somehow, and the darkness is using his body as a kind of vessel?" Mickey summarized. Yen Sid nodded._

 _"So Riku's still in his dreams?" Kairi asked._

 _"Duh, otherwise he'd be here with the rest of us wouldn't he?" Lea piped up. Kairi glared at the red head, not in the mood for his attitude._

 _"Sora could very well wake at any time however," Yen Sid corrected, "I have no doubts that Riku would still be with him if that is the case, but I'm sure you would all agree that I worry about Sora's mental state."_

 _"But Sora has been in Anti-Form before," Mickey said._

 _"I can attest to that." Lea added, wincing at the memory._

 _"Yes, but he has never been in Anti-Form for this long a period of time, much less asleep," Yen Sid said looking grim, "there is no telling what he will do in that form, or how he will be when he comes out of it; IF he comes out of it."_

 _They all stood in silence, letting the thought sink in. Kairi didn't want to believe it though. Sora could always get out of situations like this, whether by sheer luck, with the help of his friends, or in some cases both. Sora had always been a bright beacon of light for everyone, so to think that Sora would fall to darkness just like that...Kairi couldn't imagine it._

 _"He still has Riku though," she said, mostly to herself but loud enough the others in the room heard._

 _"While this is true, if anything happens and Sora becomes too far gone, you all must be ready to take action. Anti-Form is a powerful, but ruthless drive form, and from the things I've heard it has a tendency to get out of control. If Riku fails in his quest, none of you can hesitate." Yen Sid said._

 _Though he didn't say it, at least not directly, the situation was dire and they all knew it. Sora took on the form similar to a heartless, that included all of the instincts of one. If Riku failed, they had to treat Sora as one and destroy him. Kairi's chest hurt at the thought, but there was nothing they could do about it._

 _Kairi clenched a hand over her heart. No, she couldn't think that way. At least not yet._

 _"I think all of you are not giving those two enough credit."_

 _Kairi's head snapped over to Lea, who was leaning up against the wall in his usual relaxed demeanor, "those guys have stared the darkness in the face and got out of it, they're always there for each other. There's no way Sora's gonna fall that easy, not willingly anyway."_

 _A flash of pain crosses Lea's face at the last words, gone so quick Kairi could have imagined it, "and Riku won't let him fall either, you know if Sora did Riku would pull him back," his mouth twitch up a bit, "and if Sora did go willingly, you know Riku would kick his ass three ways to Sunday before unleashing us on him for it. Those guys will be alright."_

 _Kairi and Mickey felt themselves smile at the thought, "you're right Lea," Mickey said, "we can't give up hope, I'm sure when we find them they'll be perfectly fine."_

 _He walked to the door, "come on, let's go! They've gotta be somewhere!" And with that, the two left._

Kairi smiles, nodding to herself. She can't give up, she has to believe her boys would come back. She can picture them coming in, Sora with his usual bright grin and Riku with his smirk, teasing her for worrying so much. Sora would apologize, saying he didn't mean to make them worry like they did, Kairi would swat him on the head, call him an idiot without really meaning it and they would all have a good laugh, happy to be together again. It would happen. She had to believe that.

 **~o0o~**

With Roxas no longer a threat and Sora with more confidence in himself, time seems to fall into a routine. Sora would check the closet and the bed while Ventus and Riku keep an eye on the left and right doors respectively. Sora seems to be in a better mood as well, occasionally chatting with the two teens when they have a break. Ventus knows that the little boy hasn't completely became immune to the darkness though; flinching when the Shadow Kairi and Namine shriek as either he or Riku destroy them, blue eyes constantly going to the silveret, as if checking to see if he was still there and not another nightmare. Though Ven can't tell him, there is a reason that Sora is acting this way and from the looks of it, Riku has an inkling to the reason though he isn't entirely sure yet.

Even Ven has to double check, the only thing telling him Riku isn't a nightmare is the shorter hair and the strange symbol on the back of Riku's yellow and white vest. The symbol looks similar to the heartless or unversed emblem, but this one looks like a heart blooming, with leaves peeling off the sides and a round bulb at the bottom. The symbol is confusing, but it makes a big difference so Ven can tell him apart from the rest of the shadows.

He wonders though, does Riku really think this is all just a dream? He had heard Riku muttering about nightmares at different points, so he can only assume so.

A grandfather clock chimes and Ven knows that Sora will disappear for a bit against his will. Ventus tries not to worry, though he still does, but now that Sora seems to have a goal in mind neither boy is dreading it like they were before. The only one who seems to be alarmed when Sora vanishes is Riku, so Ven gives him a smile, trying to convey that Sora will be fine. It seems that he succeeds if the slight relaxing of the silverette's shoulders is anything to go by. The only thing they can do is wait until Sora gets back, which usually doesn't take that long.

"So why is Sora a child?"

Ven jumps and glances over at Riku who is sitting next to him on the bed. He's expecting Riku to be talking to himself but no, blue-green eyes are focused right on him.

Ventus smiles apologetically; he knows he can't say, not for lack of want but out of necessity. His heart is still healing, so it takes a lot of energy to stay awake so he can help his host. It would use up precious energy for him to talk when he needs to focus on protecting Sora from the monsters in his heart.

Riku smirks and shakes his head, "sorry, should have known better than to ask it that way."

They sit in companionable silence for a few moments more, Riku with his browline wrinkled in thought. Ventus knows the line of questions isn't over yet and waits patiently.

Finally Riku says, "do you know why Sora is a child?"

Ven nods, his grin returning as Riku seems to have figured out a method for getting answers, "does it have something to do with these nightmares?"

The blond frowns, thinking on how to answer before waving his hand in a so-so gesture. Riku hums, "do you know why these nightmares are happening?"

Ventus closes his eyes and sighs before he looks away. This seems to be answer enough for Riku because he copies him, the silverette studying his hands in his lap.

"Sorry, it's just weird to think that Sora has darkness this bad, he always said that he had it under control. I'm the one who's supposed to have to deal with the darkness, not him."

Ven smacks Riku's arm, startling him into looking up at him again with wide eyes. Ventus purses his lips and glares at him, Riku staring at the blond for a bit before he chuckles.

"Yeah, I know. He's got his own experiences and problems too, I shouldn't think that I'm the only one." Ven nods in agreement, glad that Riku understood. Riku sighs again, "I can't help but think that way sometimes though; Sora is my light, everyone's light. He always smiles that goofy grin of his and says that everything will work out and he's always right."

Riku smiles, "he's always been that way, even when we were kids," the smile drops, "I never wanted him to go through this..."

Ven could sympathize, when Sora opened his heart to him, he'd never wanted the brunet to deal with his problems either and yet here they are. In a matter of two, technically three short years, Sora's had his world, then his heart swallowed by darkness, both of which were brought back to the light though Sora's heart suffered the most damage, and had to sleep in a pod for a year. He has dealt with Ven's old master and several variations of him almost every time he turns around, and fought Ven's and his Nobody and Organization XIII. Though through it all he had accepted more hearts into his own at the cost of his memories and more.

Sora is a strong, brave boy, but Ven had never wanted him to have to get involved in his problems. And yet, despite it all, Ven can't help but feel that Sora has found his calling. He's made so many friends and helped so many people, human and otherwise throughout the worlds. And Ven has to admit that he wouldn't change anything if it meant that he got to help his host, no, his friend with a heart that is normally so radiant it could rival Kingdom Hearts itself.

Ven pats Riku's shoulder, smile growing wide as he tries to tell Riku without words that they will help Sora battle these monsters, no matter what. Riku grins back, nodding in understanding. At that moment, Sora appears back into the room, a big smile of his own on his face as if he'd accomplished something. In fact, it could just be Ven's imagination, but Sora also looks a little taller.

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?"


	19. Anti's musings, remember her name

**A/N A little short here, but we're getting close to the end of the story. You get to see another rare point of view as well! So without further adieu, let's get this show on the road!**

 **Also, for the guest who reviewed on the last chapter, I am aware that Sora doesn't need to use Donald and Goofy for all his drive forms, but the one you're talking about about DOES need to use Goofy in the regular gameplay. Limit form is the only one that doesn't need them for Sora to activate, I think they had him change into Valor in the cut scene to show what the game has in store for that. Anti form however IS a drive form that Donald and Goofy get absorbed into, which is why it's a shock for everyone when he goes into that form on his own. I thank you for taking the time to review though, I hope you're enjoying the story regardless. :)**

 **Warnings: Cliff hanger, otherwise nothing triggering.**

 **~o0o~**

While Ventus and Riku were waiting for Sora to come back, Sora finds himself in the same lone hallway from before. He shines a light from his keyblade to find the same girl in a black organization cloak on the chair, but this time instead of fear he feels himself becoming curious. All the people that have attacked him were people he knew, this girl being the only one he knows he'd never met in any way shape or form. He's _sure_ of this, but the girl still feels familiar. He keeps the light steady on her so she won't move yet, studying every inch of her face, looking into her eyes that stare blankly back at him, keeping up the act of a harmless doll.

The word 'doll' sends a bad pang through him however, he doesn't want to call her that.

"Who are you?" He says softly. He sees the girl twitch but otherwise she continues to sit perfectly still. He suddenly hears a voice, Roxas' voice, echo in his head.

 _"Say her name. She needs to be remembered, even if it's just one person."_

Say her name? But Sora doesn't know her.

 _"Yes you do, you've seen her in your dreams remember?"_ Roxas prods gently, _"during the Mark of Mastery test. You met her before you talked to me."_

Ah, now Sora knows why she's so familiar, but he never got her name. He continues to study the girl and sees her begin to twitch some more, like a child being forced to sit still when they have too much energy.

 _"Hurry Sora! She's getting impatient, she won't sit still forever. Say her name!"_ Roxas pushes, slight panic in his voice.

Sora's blue eyes suddenly meet matching blue and he feels a word on the tip of his tongue, he can almost say it, but it won't come to him. Come on Sora what's her name!

The girl narrows her eyes and, apparently getting fed up from not moving, stands and walks purposefully towards the boy. Sora's heart leaps in his chest at the anger in her eyes and the set of her jaw, the same expression Roxas had on his face before Sora got through to him. Oblivion appears in her hands and the hallway seems to be longer than it was before as she picks up her pace, raising her keyblade to strike him down. Sora crosses his arms over his face when she gets close, flinching back from the awaited hit and shouts, "Please don't! Xion!"

Silence rains down as Sora waits, eyes shut tight and teeth clenched before he realizes that nothings happening. He slowly opens his eyes and uncovers his head, looking up at the raven haired girl. She stands in the same striking position, frozen as she stares down at him with wide blue eyes, her mouth open in shock. Her weapon falls out of her hands and clatters to the ground.

 ** _"What did you...call me?"_** She says slowly.

Sora stands with more confidence, different pictures that he thinks are coming from Roxas going through his head. He finally knows who she is. "Xion," He says firmly.

Xion falls to her knees, the heavy feeling around her dissipating as tears come to her eyes, making them glassy, "Someone remembers my name..." She gazes at Sora, a smile crossing her features as she realizes who he is, "you remembered me..."

She lunges forward and Sora tenses out of reflex. He feels arms wrap around him and a wetness on his shirt, but no pain.

"Thank you Sora! Thank you so much!" Xion says between sobs. Sora sighs and returns the hug, his own lips turning up.

"No problem," She pulls away slightly and Sora studies her face some more. She looks almost exactly like Kairi and Namine, only with black hair instead of red or blond. Even with tears going down her face, she has a sweet smile reminiscent of the two girls. Sora's face hardens in determination.

"I'll help you get your own body too Xion, I promise. Even if you were a puppet you still had a heart, I'm sure of it."

Xion's smile widens and she pulls Sora back to her, even as a bright light starts emanating from her. "Thank you..." She says again, her voice fading along with her as she disappears into little light particles.

 _"Really Sora, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to us."_

Sora smiles, "Neither of you deserved to live like this Roxas. You need to be able have your own lives, not live them through me. No matter what anyone says."

Sora then finds himself back in his bedroom. Ventus and Riku stand from the bed and look him over. Sora, still smiling, breathes a sigh before saying cheerfully, "Hey guys! What'd I miss?"

 **~o0o~**

In a world shrouded in darkness, there is chittering and the occasional squeak as heartless gather around in an abyss. In this place, Anti-Sora growls in irritation, sensing his last mental captive's freedom. He rushes a defenceless heartless and tears it to shreds in his anger, not bothering to eat it like he normally would and simply watching the heart break free from the little ant like creature and fly up into the sky.

His host is starting to get annoying, starting to get too confident. The other light in Sora's heart is annoying as well, but the dream eater's intrusion has set back Anti's plans drastically. Anti had tried taking over the blond keyblade wielder, but even in his weakened state he had nothing for the darkness to latch onto and manipulate like the Nobody and doll did. But because of his weakened state he was simply an annoyance, not a threat.

That Dream Eater though...

Anti snarls and shreds another heartless, the creature making a pained squeak as it's form dissipates. Anti smirks and purrs a little, enjoying the sound for a moment before returning to his thoughts.

With that strange potion his host was doused with, Anti was able to get stronger and convince Sora, for a time anyway, to give into his anger and sense of justice. But when that shadowed keyblade master interfered, the boy began fighting for control again. For a time, Sora feared the other thanks to the nightmares Anti fed him, but he still refused to hate or attack him.

Anti-Sora's yellow eyes flash dangerously and the heartless around him skitter away, some instinct warning then to steer clear of the larger heartless even as his command over them keeps them from leaving their king completely. His host has a lot of power, and so much darkness that he could make Xehanort and all his copies fear him, but he refuses to use it. Instead he chooses to use the light, another thing that he has so much abundance of it was blinding and makes Anti sick to think about even now. Before, Anti could only break through that light when his host went into his so called 'drive forms', the darkness he absorbed strengthening the Heartless in him until it slowly drained out. Only the Final Form could get rid of that darkness, it's very essence the light of Kingdom hearts that chases back the dark. Anti-Sora hated that form for obvious reasons, it's power growing when Sora thought of his friends.

This is why Anti had been trying so hard to turn the boy against them, playing on his doubts and fears, for the one thing that Sora is terrified of above all else is being alone. And it's also that fear that drives his darkness and makes it stronger.

Sora is a social creature because of that fear, he forces himself to smile and act friendly, forces himself to help everyone and everything, because he thinks that if he acts any other way he will be all alone.

This is why the dream eater and keyblade wielder is such a nuisance; the boy called Riku was Sora's first friend and has seen the side that others do not see, even the Princess Of Heart. The blond boy has been in Sora's heart for most of the brunet's life and has also seen it, even then chasing away the darkness for him. When Sora turned into a heartless to free the seven princess' was when Anti was born, and he has no intension to disappear after that. He will be free, regardless of how much his host wants to do what he considers 'right'.

An idea comes to Anti and the heartless smirks, maybe he should remind Sora of his Dream Eater's true heart. As he told the boy, the other has once fallen to the darkness too...


	20. Sora's Nightmare

More time passes by and when Riku looks at the clock on the nightstand it reads three forty-five. He knows by now that the time does not pertain to real world time though, so he has no idea how long he's been here or what the others are up to in the waking world.

The dream hasn't gotten any better for Sora either, since Roxas is no longer a threat and apparently neither is the black haired girl, the darkness decided to use versions of Donald and Goofy to torment him. When Sora had checked the left hall at one point, A nightmare version of Donald had rushed him and Sora almost didn't make it. If it wasn't for Ventus stepping in and destroying the shadow, Sora would have been a goner. Even now, Sora is still shaken up and it took a lot to calm him down and get him back into the situation at hand.

"Are you okay now Sora?" Riku asks the brunet in question. Sora nods, but he still doesn't look as confident as he did a while ago. Ven clears his throat and Riku glances up just in time to see the closet door move. Looks like Axel's back.

Riku sighs and walks to the closet, cracking the door open slightly but finding nothing there. That didn't necessarily mean anything though. Even before Lea had gotten his heart back, he was as cunning as a fox, manipulating his surroundings and the people in it to get what he wants. The fact that he managed to survive Castle Oblivion, while tricking Sora and himself into getting rid of the others attested to this.

He takes a step away, still keeping a watchful eye on the closet as he checks the left door again. He sees Donald peek around the corner, but the duck hides again, even though Riku didn't shine any kind of light. He goes back to the closet and checks again, this time catching Axel off guard and with a quick slash from Riku's keyblade, the red head disappears with a grunt into the shadows.

Even with the satisfaction of getting rid of the imposter Nobody, Riku can't help but be on edge. There is something off here, though he can't place what it is exactly. The nightmares still appear, even try to attack like they usually do, but they aren't trying as often and seem to be waiting for something. A quick look at Ven shows that the other teen is thinking the same thing, even Sora is tensed up as if sensing the change in the air.

 ** _"Hello in there~"_**

Riku jerks around at the sound of Kairi's voice and Sora, still not wanting to hurt her even though she isn't his real friend, rushes to the right and slams the the door in her face. Instead of screeching and cursing like normal though, she cackles.

" ** _Just wait Sora dear~ He's gonna come get cha..."_**

Sora tenses up at those words, head whipping over to the bed before ocean blue eyes dart over to Riku, confusing the teen in question. Sora seems very shook up, making Riku clutch Way to Dawn and look around warily, though he had no clue what the nightmare had meant.

Sora runs up to the silverette and wraps his arms around the teen's waist. Riku looks down at him and the boy gazes back, his blue eyes intent on Riku's face as if to reassure himself. Riku smiles kindly and ruffles Sora's hair, "it's alright Sora, I'm right here."

Sora nods, though he doesn't look any better. A dark presence suddenly enters the room, though Riku senses that it isn't coming from the closet this time. Sora's eyes widen and his head jerks to the bed, but when Riku looks there is nothing visably there. He knows this isn't true though, judging by how quiet the room has gotten and the way Ven tenses, the blonde's eyes narrowing in suspicion at the large piece of bedroom furniture. The darkness is pungent in the air, so much so that Riku can taste it as he keeps his eyes focused on the bed.

The darkness feels familiar too, though Riku can't pinpoint exactly why that is. All he knows is that the presence is smothering and he can feel Sora trembling at his side. Though Sora didn't always act like the sharpest tool in the shed, he knows Sora has a good sense of detecting darkness, and if it's so strong that Riku feels like he's drowning in it, he knows Sora can feel it as well. Riku remembers the trick that the real Kairi used to help Sora see under Riku's darkness way back when, and closes his eyes.

At first, he 'sees' nothing but a black cloud seeping from the bed, but then something manifests out of it, making Riku gasp when a familiar yellow and white jacket comes out of it, silver hair flashing and sea glass eyes that he would normally see in a mirror, though usually with the loathing they have in them normally being directed at himself, hiding under the fringe of long bangs. The same smirk that would usually be on his own face twisted into a cold sneer, with the familiar Soul Eater in his grip.

Sora cries out and Riku opens his eyes, jaw dropped in disbelief. The version of Riku on the bed grins, taking in the three keyblade wielders before he chuckles darkly.

 ** _"So this is the version of me you conjured up,"_** Nightmare Riku sneers, his voice having an echoing hiss underneath Riku's real voice. **_"Are you so far in denial that you would imagine a copy of me? How pathetic."_**

Riku closes his mouth with an audible click, gritting his teeth as he raises his weapon and drops into a ready stance, "You know what's really sad? The fact that the darkness conjured you up to feed Sora lies!" He counters.

Nightmare Riku growls, his eyes flashing dangerously at the accusation before a satisfied grin splits his face in two, " ** _If they are lies, then why is it that your creator looks so intent on you protecting him?"_**

Riku furrows his brow and looks at Sora. The brunette is petrified in place, blue eyes huge in terror and glistening in pain as he holds his hands to his chest, Kingdom Key nowhere to be seen. Sora steps back, trying to put as much distance between himself and the nightmare on the bed. Riku feels his heart squeezes painfully in his chest, hating to see his friend in such a state.

The last time Sora looked anywhere close to afraid was when he thought there was a monster moaning in their Secret Place, and even then he looked no where near as frightened as he does at this moment. Riku scowls and looks back at the imposter, who looks so smug that it makes him nauseous that he ever had that expression on his face himself.

"You are the thing that is tormenting my friend; as far as I'm concerned, you are just another one of his nightmares." Riku narrows his eyes, "I will cure him of his darkness and nightmares; tell your master this when I'm done with you!"

The imposter jumps off the bed, facing Riku down with his own scowl. Riku declares as he lunges forward,

"Because I am what Nightmares fear!"


	21. Sora's Nightmare, part two

Lea groans as he opens another dark corridor, his search coming up empty once again. He had checked Agrabah, Notre Dame, hell he even checked the world that never was and came up with nothing. He is starting to run out of ideas on where to look.

His next destination is Atlantica, though with being associated with fire he normally tended to avoid that world at all cost and it is very unlikely that Sora would be there, but damn it, he has to check every world he can.

'There's one place you haven't checked right?' Comes acocky voice in the back of his head. Lea scowls as he walks along the dark corridor. Not wanting to listen to that chirping he calls an inner voice.

'You know you're only insulting yourself right?'

'Yeah yeah,' He thinks, trying not to be off-put. Is it healthy to be arguing with yourself like this? Lea doesn't want to know, He has enough of the others teasing him thank you very much. 'And yeah, that's why I'm going to Atlantica. It's one place I haven't looked.'

'That's not the world I'm talking about,' his inner voice points out, 'why would Sora go to that world in the form he's in when he told us he couldn't access his drive forms there?'

Lea stops in place, remembering that Sora had indeed told him at one point that he was unable to use his drive forms in neither Atlantica or the Pride Lands. But if Anti-Form can't change to accommodate certain worlds, then Lea has completely run out of places to search for him.

'No, I haven't.' He thinks, 'There's gotta be one place we never thought to look, where are heartless most likely to conjugate besides the Nobodies world?'

Lea becomes stumped. Where would there be enough darkness for them to...

Lea's eyes widen in realization and he smacks himself on the forehead, "of coarse! Why didn't I think of it before?!" He exclaims, exasperated with himself. He changes the destination of the dark corridor and heads towards the Tower of Mystery. He needs to tell the others.

 **~o0o~**

Riku and his double lock blades for the fifth time, both seeming to be evenly matched as darkness battles the dawn. Riku pulls back, causing the Nightmare version of himself to stumble forward slightly. He swings his keyblade down, intent on cutting the imposter in half, but the nightmare expects this and rolls away, only getting a slight cut on his left side. N. Riku leaps to his feet, still with that sneer on his face and madness in his eyes as he jabs his sword at Riku's gut. The silveret dodges to the side and manages to slice the nightmare's arm, but it doesn't slow it down.

They are getting nowhere with this, Riku may have managed to score a few hits but N. Riku has as well, a fact the real Riku gets reminded of when he has to wipe the blood from his eye in aggravation. There has to be a weakness, something that can give Riku the edge but so far he hasn't discovered it yet.

He chances a glance at Sora, who is still by the closet and holding on to Ventus as the fight goes on with fearful eyes. Ven keeps shushing him, even as he watches the battle warily and the picture almost gives Riku the impression of a parent or older sibling trying to calm a child after a bad nightmare. This confuses Riku for a moment until Ven locks eyes with him and gives him a meaningful look and Riku's eyes widen when he realizes.

This is a nightmare. **Sora's Nightmare**. It explains why the other nightmares had gotten weaker for a time; Sora wasn't afraid. As long as Sora fears this illusion, the Nightmare will have mass and the darkness in his heart will grow stronger.

"Sora listen to me!" Riku grunts as he barely manages to block another attack, "this version of me isn't real! It's only a nightmare, you don't need to be afraid of it!"

 ** _"What are you trying to pull?"_** N. Riku scoffs, narrowing cold and shadowed eyes.

Sora focuses on Riku with Ventus still urging him on with his eyes, "we've been best friends since forever! I would rather die than hurt you, even back when I let the darkness in, I always looked out for you from the shadows remember?"

 ** _"Ha! That's only because I pitied him! The keyblade chose me first, he was just the delivery boy!"_** N. Riku takes a jabs at Riku and the teen deflects it, managing to slash the imposter across the chest and cause a dark smoke to rise from the wound before it closes. He sees Sora flinch at the hateful and familiar words and Riku wishes not for the first time that he'd never said them.

"I never meant that Sora! I was angry, and Maleficent was feeding me lies!" Riku grits his teeth as N. Riku attacks more harshly, trying his damndest to silence the silveret, "the keyblade may have been passed to you from me, but you deserved it more! You still do!" He throws the nightmare off, looking Sora full in the face.

"You have darkness in your heart, but unlike me you never submitted to it. You never truly fell for it's lies before, you always try your best to look on the bright side where I couldn't and you never hate someone that doesn't deserve it! Even if they do you always give them another chance!"

 ** _"That because you're naive and childish! You never grew up to see the real worlds around you!"_** N. Riku snarls, this time directing his attention to Sora himself.

"Yes you have!" Riku counters, "you aren't stupid Sora! You know there's evil out there and that anyone is capable of it! But you also know there's good out there too!"

Sora clenches his eyes, grinding his teeth as every word begins to overwhelm him. Light begins to shine from his chest, spreading outwards and finally having enough of the conflicting thoughts being fed to him he screams, "STOP IT! STOP IT! SHUT UUUUUP!!!"

The light explodes and Ventus gets thrown away from the confused brunet. All the teens in the room including the nightmare get flung back and Riku hits the wall hard, darkness consumes his vision and the last thing he hears before blacking out entirely are Sora's screams.

 **~o0o~**

Lea gets back to Yen Sid's tower and enters the office, looking around to find the wizard as well as the two keyblade wielders and king's mage and knight there as well, "good, you're all here."

"What is it Lea?" Mickey says.

"Did you find Sora?" Kairi adds, frowning in worry for the worst.

Lea shakes his head, "no, not yet." He then grins, "but, I think I know where he might be."

"The do share with us your theory Lea," Yen Sid prods.

The grin widens as he leans back on the doorway and folds his arms over his chest, "No theory old timer, we should have realized this some time ago; what's the one place we haven't looked that heartless would gather?" He says.

"The Nobodies world?" Donald replies rubbing underneath his bill.

Mickey shakes his head, his brow winkled in thought, "no, we already checked there loads of times and came up with nothing." They all stood around thinking while Lea looks on in amusement.

"Well, the only place I know of is Hallow Bastion, but I don't think he'd be there..." Goofy muses before noticing the others looks.

Lea chuckles, his emerald eyes twinkling in his excitement and Mickey looks back to the red head, mouth open, "you think he would be there?" He asks.

Yen Sid hums at the suggestion as he strokes his beard, "though it isn't technically Hollow Bastion anymore, The restoration committee there might still be having problems with stray heartless. If Sora were to appear there, especially with his control of the heartless themselves..."

The group hardens their expressions and nod in unison, Lea standing straight as he walks through the door.

"So we're all in agreement?"

Everyone nods and the five warriors head for the Gummi Ship, destination set in mind.

Next stop: Radiant Garden.


	22. Riku meets the true Anti-Form

Riku groans as glaring sunlight bleeds through his eyelids, turning his vision red while a warm breeze drifts across his face, bringing with it the smell of tropical fruit and seasalt. Seagull's cries hit his ears along with the sounds of gentle waves and Riku relaxes slightly at the familiarity as his eyes open. A bright blue sky with a gorgeous sun shinning meets them and he blinks rapidly, not used to the bright light after so long in the dark with nothing but a small beam of light from Sora's keyblade.

He grunts as he sits up, taking in the surrounding beach and he immediately recognizes it as one of the beaches of Destiny Islands. He slowly stands, a little off put by the massive change as he thinks back to what happened. He was fighting a nightmare version of himself, he was trying to talk to Sora to get him to stop being afraid of it while the imposter was doing everything he could to do the opposite. There was a bright light and...

Riku gasps in alarm and begins running along the beach, his blue-green eyes searching everything around him for a familiar mop of chocolate brown hair, "SORA!" He yells, checking every nook and cranny for his friend.

When he finally sees him, he holds back a little, smiling gently at the scene. Sora is still a child, about six or seven, a kid version of Riku playing with him. They are hunting for sea shells, Sora cheering every couple of minutes when he finds one and making sounds of amazement when the silveret finds one and shows it to him. Sora is in the old white shirt and red shorts combo he used to wear and Riku is in a pair of black shorts with a plain yellow t-shirt. Both are barefoot and paying no mind to the hot sand, big grins on their faces. The older Riku leans up against a palm tree and folds his arms, enjoying the happy dream that was a far off memory now.

"Riku look at this one!" Y. Sora says holding up a small spiraling shell that a hermit crab had probably out grown.

"That's nothing," Y. Riku retorts and holds up a large conch shell. Sora groans and throws down the shell and bucket he has.

"Not fair Riku! You always find the better ones!" The brunet exclaims pouting cutely.

"Not my fault, I just know how to find better stuff," Y. Riku says putting his hands on his hips and seeming to strike a pose. Riku snickers at the bravado, Y. Sora stomping his feet and angrily exclaiming how it wasn't fair and that he'll 'find a better one than you he swears!' It ends up turning into a competition to find the best shell, which was always their way.

Riku misses those days, a little. Sure, he wishes he didn't act as mean back then, but Riku didn't know how to play or express himself any other way back then. Dear Sora kept up with him though, like he always does and if Riku ever went too far Sora would show it too, and Riku would always apologize in his own round about way. But Sora understood and would always accept it, it's just how they were. When Kairi came along, Sora started acting tougher and whining a little less, but their dynamic never changed to this day, pushing each other to their limits, helping each other when they could and always remaining close.

Riku doesn't notice it at first, but slowly and surely the scene starts to feel off. Riku frowns and surveys his surroundings, his brow furrowing when nothing seems amiss. The sky is still blue, the breeze and ocean still calm, and the past versions of themselves are still smiling. But as Riku narrows his eyes, he notices a pattern starting.

Y. Sora would find a shell, show it to Y. Riku with a big grin, but Y. Riku would always seem to have found one that was bigger and better. He would begin gloating about it and Y. Sora would get more and more frustrated. The friendly competition is slowly devolving into Y. Riku taunting the brunette mean spiritedly and Y. Sora on the verge of tears, but still trying his damndest to win. Riku's chest hurts at the site and he prays that this isn't what Sora really thought of their relationship. Was it always like this? Or was this just another twisted version of reality brought on by Sora's insecurities?

He sees something move out of the corner of his eye and jerks his head in the direction of some bushes, his eyes widening when he sees Nightmare Riku grinning sadistically at the scene. Riku growls and summons his weapon, running at the imposter and slashing at the bushes. N. Riku jumps out of the way, still smirking evilly but not drawing his weapon.

"Release the nightmare!" Riku commands getting into a ready stance. N. Riku laughs at him, his eyes turning solid yellow as he sinks into the ground in a black tar looking puddle before reemerging into a shadow form of Sora.

"What the hell?!" Riku gasps in shock.

 ** _"Surprised to see me Dream Eater?"_**

Riku shivers at the siblent voice, not used to hearing his best friend's voice like that. " ** _It's such an honor to finally meet the one who ruins my plans at ever turn as of late,"_** The creature hisses, sarcasm bleeding through.

"So you're the one causing his nightmares?" Riku says, his eyes narrowing when the thing let's out a hissing snicker.

 ** _"You really think this is a dream anymore?"_** The heartless asks, throwing Riku off, **_"yes I caused the nightmares at first, but everything that happens from here on is very real. You no longer have any power here Dream Eater."_**

Riku tightens his grip on Way to Dawn, his face hardening in determination, "whether it's still a dream or not, I have brought Sora back from the darkness before. I will stop you!"

The heartless chortles, Riku once again getting chills at how cold Sora's voice sounds coming from the thing, **_"what makes you think he ever left? I have been around long since before the potion fool; whispering in his ear, telling him the true reason that his so called 'friends' keep him around."_**

"You mean telling him lies! And how were you around before, Sora has never shown signs-"

 ** _"Hahaha! But he has! He just hid it very well! Not even you could break through his mask; and you call yourself his friend?"_** The heartless sneers.

Riku flinches at the jab. How hadn't he noticed? Riku has been consumed by the darkness before, he knows the signs! How could he not have seen it? And then his heart drops.

Of course he hadn't seen it, he had refused to, choosing to think that he was the only one that went though it and Sora let him believe it, not wanting to worry him. Once again, Riku acted so arrogant that he became blind to his best friend's pain. Really, after everything they'd gone through, he should have expected it.

As if reading his mind, the heartless grins, sharp yellow teeth flashing between black lips as sulfer eyes glow in twisted delight, **_"oh, I was around since the beginning. You should know by now that you can never get rid of darkness. Darkness is everywhere is everything is everyone! Just like your precious light. I have always been around in one_** _form_ ** _or another."_**

Riku hears the insinuation to the word 'form' and it dawns on him what this creature is, "you really are Sora's Anti-drive form..."

 ** _"Hehehe...never truly a 'form' though you may call me such if you want,"_** Anti tilts his head, the grin never leaving his face, **_"I cannot be summoned at will, like his other forms, there for I'm not a true drive form."_**

"Then you will release him at once! You don't belong here!" Riku demands, raising his keyblade.

Anti laughs outright at that, **_"'don't belong'? You are in such denial! I have always been here! Your precious light has always been mine, long before you met him!"_** The heartless' eyes glow a brighter yellow, **_"if you still deny my right to be here, let me show you how it all began..."_**

And with that, Riku's vision knew darkness once more.


	23. Radiant Garden

As the gummi ship, loaded down with three anthropomorphic animals and two humans travels through the gateway to radiant garden, King Mickey can't help but sigh as a sense of nostalgia fills him. He remembers that his three friends, all lost in one form or another, used to meet with him here before the whole debacle with Master Xehanort had sent one to wander the realm of darkness, the second to lose his heart and the third to become possessed.

Mickey knows that they will find them, it was only a matter of time, but now he has two more friends that are in danger of falling. Sora and Riku wouldn't fall that easily he's sure, but sometimes it doesn't stop the Disney King from thinking the worst. Sora and Riku are so much like Terra and Ven, in both fate and disposition, that it makes Mickey worry.

He hopes with all his being that the two boys will make it out okay, and it is almost fitting that this would be the world they would end up. Radiant Garden was always known to have big things happen whether for good or bad.

They land the gummi ship and when the group step out, it's to absolute chaos. Heartless of all shapes and sizes roam the streets, Claymores going nuts with trying to keep them down. They spot the Great Ninja Yuffie and Squall Leonhart fighting off a particularly thick batch and sweep in to help, dispatching the heartless and thinning them down enough to manage to escape back to the Radiant Garden Restoration Base.

Goofy is the last to get inside and slams the door, most of the large group collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. Cid turns from the computer he's working from and raises a brow, "I see Yuffie and Leon picked up a few guests. That bad out there?"

Yuffie huffs from her place on the floor, "ya' think?" She says sardonically before turning her attention to said guests, giving them a smile.

"You guys came just in time, any longer and Squall and I woulda' been toast."

"Aw shucks, no need to thank us," Mickey replies returning the smile before his face becomes serious, "we're actually here for a reason, something happened to Riku and Sora and we thought we might be able to find them here."

"What happened?" Leon inquires, face stoic to mask his worry.

Mickey explains what has happened, causing the Restoration members to become very concerned. Aerith, who had came in not too long ago from all the commotion and heard everything, puts a hand to her mouth with a wrinkled brow, thinking for a moment.

"That may be why the heartless are acting up so badly here, a few days ago the heartless began leaking from the Hollow Bastion ruins and reeking havoc on the town. Cid had to upgrade Claymore several times just to keep up."

"And we've been working none stop to take care of the rest." Yuffie adds, falling back on the floor dramatically and flinging an arm over her eyes with a moan.

"Then all we gotta do is bring down the source and the heartless will stop right?" Leon says.

Mickey shakes his head, "just leave it to us, you already got your hands full here." He reassures, though mentally he's a little scared just exactly what they would have to do to take down their friend.

After some more coaxing, the Radiant Garden group reluctantly agrees to stay behind to hold down the fort while the five warriors from the Mysterious Tower head off to the ruins, taking down any heartless that get in their way. Before they get there though, a great flash of light comes from the abyss surrounding Maleficent's abandoned tower, causing the heroes to shield their eyes at the intensity.

"Gwarsh, what do ya think that could be?" Goofy asks.

"I don't know, but we better hurry!" Mickey replies, picking up his pace with the others not far behind. They get to edge of the abyss and look down into the writhing sea of black. Though there is an infestation in town, there somehow seems to be less heartless here, though it's hard to tell whether it is because they're going into the town or if it is from something else. A bone chilling laugh draws the warriors attention to behind them and they gasp.

There standing behind them is Sora, with wide yellow eyes and a crooked grin. The heartless in the abyss chitter behind them at the dark energy emanating from him, the darkness rising up from the slouched figure in ribbons of black smoke. He no longer looks like a shadow, his skin stained a dark greyish purple and the familiar crown necklace shining a bright gold the same color as his eyes. It's hard to believe at this point that Sora is still asleep through all this when his eyes are wide open, with slitted pupils and the wide smile he usually has showing a set of sharp teeth between black lips.

 ** _"Well, looks like our little game of hide and seek is over, isn't it Warriors of Light?"_** Anti-Sora chuckles, a slight growl like that of an animal undermining it and causing them to get chills. They summon their weapons and stand at the ready, determined to stop this monster before it destroys their friend completely.

Anti shakes his head, almost looking chastising and it reminds Mickey so much of Xehanort that he tightens his grip on his keyblade in reflex. **_"you would aim your weapons at your friend? Tsk tsk, I told that boy that you were traitors. To bad he didn't listen and now has to swim in darkness for the rest of eternity."_**

"Let him go monster!" Kairi demands, narrowing her eyes when the creature laughs at her.

 ** _"Let him go? That's exactly what that Dream Eater said before I detained him. How do you know your friend didn't want this?"_**

"Sora isn't like this!" Donald squawks.

"Yeah, he said he'd never fall to the darkness again!" Goofy adds, puffing his chest out confidently.

Anti laughs again, **_"you fools, he already has! Where do you think I came from!"_** Anti quiets down, seeming to study the heroes before a sadistic gleam comes to his yellow eyes, that sharp grin splitting his face, **_"I know the darkness in all their hearts, allow me to show you the truth..."_**

With that, three ribbons of darkness drift from the possessed boy and sink into the ground. Mickey and the others brace themselves as three puddles of darkness spread out on the grey dirt before shrinking, slowly rising into the air and forming three figures. The warriors gasp at the sight of the three familiar boys, two blondes and one brunette, one with training armor on his shoulder and under his shirt, one with a black checkered white jacket and an x charm at his neck, and the last wearing familiar black and red clothes and a silver crown chain necklace around his neck. All three boys are paler than they normally would be with shadows under their eyes as if sick, identical pairs of blue eyes glaring at the warriors with so much loathing contorting their faces it is unnatural.

"Roxas!" Mickey hears Lea exclaim behind him.

Kairi covers her hands over her mouth, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, "Sora..." he hears her whisper.

Mickey stares at the final boy, the one with armor, in mute shock. He knew that Sora was connected in some way to his three old friends, but this just makes the King's heart wrench in the most painful way as the blond looks directly at Mickey with so much hate.

"Ven..."


	24. Always There

Riku finds himself on the beach again, but something is different than before. Sure the atmosphere looks normal, but the energy has a depressing vibe, giving the silveret the urge to fall into what Sora and Kairi called his 'grump mood'. Shaking it off and making sure to keep his guard up, Riku shoves his hands in his pockets and begins walking along the beach.

Riku finds himself approaching the small town and begins walking through it, looking around and trying to see if there are any changes to it. It looks like what it did when he was five. He has no idea where he's supposed to go, so he figures he'd just let his feet take him to where they needed to.

"Get away from us freak!"

Riku turns his head in the direction of the voice and sees a group of kids. He almost decides to look over it when he sees a familiar mess of spiky hair and freezes.

Sora looks like he could be about three or four years old, but there's something off with him. It takes a moment for Riku to figure out what it is, but he recognizes a very familiar and ugly scowl on the brunette's face; a scowl that Riku would normally have on his own, his normally cute childish features warped with it and it takes Riku by surprise, having not seen that look in ages. At least, not outside of a battle and very rarely did it show up around him. Was this before they met?

He watches Sora walk away and follows, casting his own scowl at the group of boys when he hears them laugh. He follows Sora to his house, the old one that he lived in when Riku was a kid, and goes in with him. Nobody seems to be able to see him, so Riku figures that he isn't going to get in trouble for it.

Sora walks into the kitchen and sits at the table. Riku watches, leaning against the wall with a small smile as the boy's expression softens a bit into the cute pout the brunet never managed to get rid of. Sora crosses his arms and huffs, drawing the attention from the woman working at the stove.

Sora's mother, who is apparently making lunch at this moment, stops what she's doing to look at him, "Sora? You're early, what's the matter?"

Sora shakes his head and huffs again, making Riku chuckle wryly at the display. Though people wouldn't know it now, what with Sora acting so happy and carefree all the time, the two always got along when they were younger because they were so much alike deep down. It wasn't until they got a little bit older that Sora's sunny disposition came out, though Riku stayed much the same.

"Are the other kids making fun of you again?" Sora's mother asks.

Sora's pout deepens, his lower lip sticking out in a way that Sora probably would have thought as a sign of seriousness, but just made him look adorable. His mother sighs, "I know I'm going to regret this when you're older, but I wish you would talk," she grins sheepishly and Sora finally smiles a little, shaking his head with an apologetic look.

"Still not ready to huh?" He shakes his head again, "don't worry sweetie, you'll meet someone one day that isn't like those other kids," She reassures. Sora scowls again, obviously not believing it.

Riku frowns. At the time, he had liked to think it was because of him, and later on Kairi, that got Sora to open up. Was he just acting that way to make them feel better, or was it real?

 ** _"Having doubts are we?"_**

Seeing nothing to glare at, Riku turns his gaze to the floor, "no."

Then comes the hissing snicker, **_"I told you he's had darkness before. You really think you could take it all on when it was never yours to begin with?"_**

 _"He's lying,"_ Riku jumps when he sees Roxas and the raven haired girl appear, both in their organization coats, _"It's because you said you'd take it on that Sora got better. He wouldn't be who is now if it wasn't for you,"_ Roxas says.

The girl smiles, her eyes pleading, _"he's suffered through so much heart break when he was young, Ventus told us that you were the one to make it better for Sora. You've seen this side of him, and you've seen his smiles as well. You were the one to ease the darkness in his heart and make Sora have hope."_

 ** _"Please,"_** Anti Sora sneers, **_"He never had hope, all the happiness and good cheer was just a facade. He decided the best way for him to not be alone anymore was to act happy..."_**

The world warps again and Riku sees Sora sitting by the familiar paopu tree that they usually sat on to watch the sunset. The child has a stick and is viciously stabbing it into the ground. When Riku comes closer, he sees a crude drawing of what he guesses to be one of the boys from before. This is confirmed when the brunette begins muttering to himself.

"Stupid Ford, I wish he'd die! Just cuz I don't talk to him don't mean I'm dumb! He'll pay I know he will!"

Riku hears footsteps behind him and automatically jumps out of the way when the younger version of himself comes up. When he looks, Sora's already erased the drawing and has plastered on his usual dopy grin, "hey Riku!"

"Hey," Y. Riku greets before sitting next to the brunet, "what are you doing out here by yourself?"

A flash of wariness in those deep blue eyes before Sora closes them and grins wider, "waiting for you!"

 ** _"See? He always hid his true emotions behind that smile of his,"_** Anti hisses, sending chills up Riku's back bone.

 _"No. Keep watching Riku,"_ Roxas urges.

This is exactly what he does. He sees the little boys talking as if nothing's wrong before his younger self gets a serious look, "Sora, what's wrong?"

Sora flinches, but covers it up by making a show of leaning back on the tree, "Nothing. I was just bored," he says dismissively.

"Bored huh?" Y. Riku says, echoing the silveret's thoughts, "come on Sora, you're a really bad liar."

Sora looks extremely hesitant, his eyes darting around as if he is trying to find a way to escape. Y. Riku grabs Sora's hand, preventing this and says quietly, "it's those jerks again isn't it?"

The brunette's face twists as he turns his head away to glare out at the calm ocean, dropping the cheerful mood. This floors Riku, since he hasn't seen that look on Sora's face anywhere except for when they were battling Organization XIII. Y. Riku isn't phased by the expression though, simply sighing.

"If you want me to make them stop, then I-"

Sora shakes his head, "no, they aren't bothering me that much, it's just..." he trails off, frowning with blue eyes troubled.

"Just?" Y. Riku urges.

Sora falls silent, causing Riku as well as his younger self to sigh. Y. Riku shifts his weight until he's facing Sora on his knees, using a hand and moving Sora's head by his chin until they make eye contact. Serious blue-green eyes gaze intently into troubled blue, as if trying to read them.

"Riku...?" Sora says, gazing back.

"You shouldn't pay attention to what other people say," Y. Riku finally says, "so what if you don't talk around them, you know that you can and I know that you can. You shouldn't have to change how you are so people will like you."

"You don't talk around them, and people think you're cool," Sora points out, though there is a slight twitch of his lips that he tries to force down.

"So what? I don't like 'em either, why should I talk to them?"

Sora bursts out laughing at the other boys bluntness, finally allowing a real smile to split his face which causes both versions of Riku to follow suit. Sora's smile is contagious and causes him to light up the area around him, and now that he sees a real smile, Riku can tell the change in the older brunet's attitude much more clearly.

 _"See? Even back then you were there for him. He always felt better around you,"_ he hears the girl say.

The world around him fades to darkness and Riku's smile drops, "then why has he been lying?" He asks.

"He's afraid,"

Riku senses another presence and turns towards it, expecting to see Roxas because of the voice, but instead he sees Ventus, standing tall with a serious expression on his face.

"What do you mean he's afraid?"

Ven drops his gaze to the floor, "Because of the voices, the nightmares, he thinks that if he tells everyone what's going on then all of you will attack him. Because of what happened when he was a child, he thinks that if he acts happy, then he's safe. He's afraid that all of you will turn your backs on him and leave him alone; it's Sora's number one fear."

Riku clenches his fists, realization zinging through him like lightning, "that's why he's a child in his dreams? He feels vulnerable?" He asks. Ventus looks at him again.

"It's not just that, Sora is a child in his heart. Even with all he's been through, he never wants to lose his innocence. It's another reason he acts the way he does and hardly never takes things seriously, he doesn't want to stop believing."

Ventus grits his teeth, "this makes him more vulnerable though, the darkness uses it to its advantage and feeds him lies. Sora needs his friends to be there for him or he has nothing."

Riku's eyes widen, remembering Sora's motto again, "so his strength is also his weakness..."

Ven shrugs, eyes dark and full of regret, "isn't that how it always is? I believed the same thing, and look were me and my friends ended up."

Riku growls, glaring out into the darkness even though he and Ven are the only ones in that space, "I need to find Sora," he says in determination.

Ventus smirks, "What is Sora to you, exactly?"

This floors Riku, snapping him out of his thoughts, "huh?" Is his intelligent reply.

"What is he to you?" The blonde asks again.

Riku frowns, contemplating his answer. He could very well say that Sora is his best friend and leave it at that, but he doesn't think that would be the right answer. He feels like he's doing the Mark of Mastery test again, being asked questions so he can wake Sora up, so he has to be honest. Sure, Sora _is_ his friend, but there is so much more to it than that.

Just as the memories shown him, Riku has stuck by Sora when he was at his lowest, they practically grew up together, they were extremely close and their adventures have brought them closer. With all the smiles and scatterbrained antics as of late, Riku should have seen it was just a facade, but they were so busy preparing for the war that the silveret hadn't had time to really look for the signs.

'No, that's not true,' Riku thinks with a grimace, 'I just didn't want to see them. I never wanted to look past that smile because if Sora wasn't alright...' Then nothing would be.

Riku wanted to be the darkness to Sora's light, all that he'd done on this journey was so Sora wouldn't have to go through it himself, but he'd forgot through all the chaos that was their lives that Sora _had_ gone through it, he became a heartless to free Kairi's heart, he had his memories screwed with and then slept for a year while his nobody wandered around. Then he had become a monster at different intervals while he was looking for Riku, who didn't want to be found until the end when he had no choice. Sora almost became a Xehanort, if that was Riku he would have been a mess if that happened to him!

But that was the thing, if he would have had a problem with it, then why wouldn't Sora? Deep down, they were very much alike, and Sora also had his own problems. But he kept up the facade, because he was everyone's pillar of strength, and he knew that if he fell, then Xehanort would win.

Blue-green eyes look up at the blue of the blonde keyblade barer, who still stands patiently waiting for Riku's answer. Sora was their pillar of light, but he shouldn't have to be. Riku remembers the conversation they had back in the Realm of Darkness, when they said they would both be the darkness. He was supposed to be Sora's dream eater, but that doesn't mean he can take on all of Sora's darkness. But Sora is at his lowest again, submerge in his nightmares and doubts. And Riku, like he always has, can help him with this.

"Sora is..."


	25. Let the battle begin

_Previously_

 _Anti laughs again,_ **_"You fools, he already has! Where do you think I came from!"_** _Anti quiets down, seeming to study the heroes before a sadistic gleam comes to his yellow eyes, that sharp grin splitting his face,_ " ** _I know the darkness in all their hearts, allow me to show you the truth..."_**

 _The warriors gasp at the sight of the three familiar boys, two blondes and one brunette, one with training armor on his shoulder and under his shirt, one with a black checkered jacket and an x charm at his neck, and the last wearing familiar black and red clothes and a silver crown chain necklace around his neck. All three boys are paler than they normally would be with shadows under their eyes as if sick, identical pairs of blue eyes glaring at the warriors with so much loathing contorting their faces it is unnatural._

 _"Roxas!" Mickey hears Lea exclaim behind him._

 _Kairi covers her hands over her mouth, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, "Sora..." he hears her whisper._

 _Mickey stares at the final boy, the one with armor, in mute shock. He new that Sora was connected in some way to his three old friends, but this just makes the Kings heart wrench in the most painful way as the blonde looks directly at Mickey with so much hate._ _"Ven..."_

 **-o0o-**

 ** _"Lovely isn't it? All of them worn down and broken by your lies."_** Anti coos, gazing at the three boys as if he was a proud father, **_"I shall let them tell you exactly what you did before they destroy you. After all, revenge is sweeter when the culprit know what they've done..."_** Anti chuckles.

The first to step forward is Roxas, blue eyes narrowing as they drill right into Lea's.

 ** _"You told me you were my friend, you said we'd always be together, but you lied and hid things behind my back. I guess my feelings didn't matter to you; since we weren't supposed them I guess you feel justified now. And to top it all off, you sacrificed yourself for my Somebody, the one I gave my life up to against my will, and have a heart when I wasn't allowed one myself."_**

Lea cringed at the harsh words and looked down in shame.

Ventus is next, looking straight at Mickey, **_"you allowed me and my friends to be swallowed by darkness. You never helped when we needed it,"_** The blonde sneered, " **you never bothered to look for us either didn't you? In fact, I'll bet you had all but forgotten about us. You never cared."**

Mickey tears his gaze away, eyes full of pain as he grits his teeth. Finally, Sora steps up, the usual cheerful facade he puts up stripped away to reveal the hurt, the anger on his face as he took them all in as a whole.

 ** _"None of you bothered to look and see that something was wrong until it was too late. You put so much on my shoulders, expecting me to be the hero, to always bounce back with a smile. But you never bothered to look behind that smile did you? None of you did."_**

Kairi puts a hand to her chest, her eyes widening, "But Riku-"

 ** _"'But Riku'!"_** Sora mocks, curling up his nose, **_"He didn't care either, he was too busy being the emo Keyblade Master, a title that I should have gotten too!"_**

Sora's face twisted in rage, blue eyes flashing and scaring everyone of the warriors at the intensity, **_"I saved the worlds from darkness! Twice! But because of Xehanort and_** Riku ** _, I'm unworthy?!"_** Sora laughs harshly, **_"I can only take so much! Why should he be recognized when I've done so much more?!"_**

"That wasn't the point Sora!" Mickey protests, "The point of the test was to prove you could control the darkness in your heart! It wasn't your fault that Xehanort interfered!"

 ** _"Oh, but_** of course ** _he helped it along!"_** Sora snarls, **_"I used Anti-Form too much, even if Xehanort hadn't gotten in the way Yen Sid is too biased to let me pass! I see what you're saying!"_**

" ** _I believe we've had enough chit-chat wouldn't you agree boys?"_** Anti interrupts. A bored look on his face.

The three boys nod and summon their respective keyblades. The warriors of light remain frozen in place, hearts in pain and unsure what to do.

" _You have to fight!"_

They all gasp as a light shines from Kairi and Naminé appears, an angry look on her delicate features.

"She's right," Lea shakes his head and glares at Roxas who stares back just as harshly, "Do you believe the shit coming out of their mouths? Even if what they say is true, you know they would never actually hold it against us!"

Mickey realizes what Naminé and Lea are saying and tightens his grip on his keyblade, "you're right, they wouldn't. They're a bunch of fakes!"

The three boys scowl even as Anti chuckles in amusement, **_"Fine, you caught me, but just because they're copies doesn't mean they're weak."_**

With renewed determination, the keyblade wielders drop into battle stances, the copies doing the same.

 ** _"They are traitors none the less,"_** The fake ventus says, voice monotone.

 ** _"And we all know traitors deserve to be punished."_** The fake Sora finishes, a cruel grin on his face.

And with that, the battle begins.

 **~o0o~**

"Well, tell me. What is he to you?"

Riku looks Ventus right in the eye and says honestly, "My everything."

Ven hums in thought, "He's that much to you huh? Well," The blonde smiles as a light engulfs both the teens, "far be it from me to keep you away from everything. Just bring him back safely."

Riku nods, "I will."

Riku finds himself standing on a stained glass platform. He studies it, taking in the image of Sora, his face slack in sleep with a ring of his friends surrounding him like a cradle. By his head, is another cluster, with the faces of Kairi, Mickey, Donald and Goofy, Roxas, Ventus and himself completing the circle. Riku smiles, not surprised.

His smile disappears however when he notices the unseen light illuminating the platform getting dimmer, some of the faces of people greying out. He looks around wildly, "Sora!" He yells, his voice echoing back to him but still no sign of the brunet in person.

 ** _"Sorry, he's not here right now."_**

Riku turns with a jerk towards the hissing voice. Across the platform from him, crouched down like an animal is Anti-Form, golden irises aglow with that same twisted grin. Riku summons his keyblade and drops into a ready stance, staring Anti down, "where is he?" He growls.

Anti giggles, his pupils becoming slits and glittering with manic delight, **_"oh, he's around, you just can't get to him,"_** he says cryptically.

Tightening his grip on Way to Dawn, Riku bares his teeth in a furious scowl, "if all I have to do to get to him is to defeat you, then so be it!"

Riku lunges forth, Anti hissing as he follows suit.

 **~o0o~**

 **Ah, another cliffhanger huh? Sorry but it seemed like a good place to leave off. Also this story will be ending soon, so I kinda wanted to make this last while it can since I don't know how long it's gonna be until I post anything other than sporadic one shots.**

 **Anyway, I hope everyone has a good week, next chapter of I'm Here will be going up sometime *looks at clock* today actually, so those who are reading that look forward to it. Either way, I'll see all of you next week.**

 **~Sorceress**


	26. Nothing to forgive

Riku dodges to the side as Anti comes after him, only to be kicked in the back on the way by. He jabs his blade, which the Heartless dodges as well, going so fast Riku can't see where Anti is going. Suddenly he is bombarded in a whirlwind of kicks, claws and teeth, gaining red marks and bruises on his skin before he almost gets blasted off the edge of the platform by a beam of pure darkness.

He narrowly gets out of the way of another swipe, gritting his teeth and trying to suck in air as the attack comes too fast for him to prepare. He manages a small cut on Anti's side, the monster hissing in anger and scoring Riku's face in retaliation. Riku yelps, covering his eyes as red fills his vision and blinds him. He feels a gust of air coming at him and jumps out of the way, using his blindness and heightened senses to his advantage to hit Anti across his back with the side of his keyblade, slamming the heartless onto the ground.

Riku jumps away and lands in the middle of the platform, going back into his fighting stance as he faces the enraged heartless head on, "big mistake on your part," he says, ignoring the stinging of his eyes and face.

Anti snarls, gnashing his teeth as sulfur eyes glow ominously. He jumps into the air and glides at Riku, but the teen is ready this time and manages to block the whirlwind of claws and feet before sensing an opening and slicing into Anti shoulder. The heartless roars as black mist leaks from the wound like blood.

"Now it's my turn!" Riku unleashes a string of attacks on Anti, never letting him hit the ground, "Dark Firaga!" He commands finishing off the combo.

Black Fire licks at Anti's skin, the monster roaring in outrage as he feels his energy being drained. He is finally allowed to land on the stained glass floor, panting heavily as he tries to stand, limbs shaking with the exertion.

 ** _"What do you think will happen if you defeat me?"_** Anti says, his voice now a low rumble, **_"you can never get rid of the darkness in his heart, just like he can never get rid of yours no matter how much he wants too. I will always be here, always..."_**

"That may be," Riku replies, "but I can help ease the burden, just like he's done for me."

A low chuckle, **_"think what you want, but even I can sense the change coming. You can sense it too, can you not?"_** Riku bristles at this, **_"people change, and what causes change more than a war? He will have to kill, have to watch his friends die for the sake of the horrid light. He may handle it better if he became me, then he wouldn't have to worry about the pain."_**

"Just because it would make it easier, doesn't always make it right," Riku argues, "I know Sora would never want to become an animal just for the sake of giving up pain."

He narrows his eyes, "especially if that animal is you."

 ** _"Hehehe...how pretentious of you,"_** Anti finally meets Riku's eyes, **_"you still know so highly of your little friend. You think he hated it when I took over?"_**

Riku suddenly gets hit with a wave of sensations and thoughts, an animalistic bloodlust, a strange taste of hickory smoke and darkness, the sound of heartless squealing as the feeling of claws and teeth tearing them apart wracks him as if it is his own. The thrill of tearing them up, no other thoughts except, **_'tear, destroy, kill, slaughter, prey prey prey'_**. It makes bile rise to his throat, but he can't deny the pleasurable shivers he gets from these feelings, his own internal darkness rising to answer in kind.

 ** _"When I disappear, of coarse he's going to hate himself. It's a strange new thing that goes against all the morals he's been taught! But he loves the feelings, the taste. A guilty pleasure, temptation if you would. And that temptation to let go, to be free of the responsibilities on his shoulders, becomes stronger all the time."_**

Anti snickers, even as his skin stains back to complete black and his eyes become solid gold again, glowing strangely in his delight, **_"he thinks it wrong, and it may very well be, but all that does is make the temptation all the greater..."_**

Riku can't deny it, with the feelings and impressions he's getting. His own darkness aside, if he had to deal with this constantly, then he would be tempted to give in himself. It is then that he hears another voice, not Roxas' or Ven's, not even the raven haired girl's, but Sora himself.

 _"I did it again. I can't do it again, what if I hurt my friends?"_

 _"Why is darkness bad and light good? No one really explains that to me, I would think it would be better to have both, but because of Xehanort and Maleficent..."_

 _"No! I can't give in, I don't want to hurt them!"_

 _"My friends...they depend so much on me...I wonder what they would do if I was gone..."_

 _"They taste so sweet, almost like smoked meat and honey...how is it heartless have a taste?"_

 _"It's not too bad, I'm supposed to be killing heartless anyway and I'm doing it! Is this really wrong...?"_

 _"Maybe I should give in...I don't have to worry about my friends that way...If I get out of hand, maybe Riku can stop me...he is stronger..."_

 _"Why can't anyone tell something's wrong? Are they just humoring me? It's just like before..."_

 **"I don't want to be alone again..."**

Riku's heart grips in agony, listening to Sora's confusion and laments as he spiraled down. The words remind Riku of his own internal struggle, the tempting whispers of _him_ , saying to give up his friends, that it would be easier. But Sora had never gave up on him, even when Riku didn't want to be found Sora found him anyway. He accepted him, even when he didn't look like himself at the time. If Sora could accept him even while looking like their enemy, then Riku can too.

"If he turns into a monster, if he looks like you, I will never turn my back on him. Even if every last one of our friends say he's a traitor, I will face them myself. No matter what lies you feed him, this will always be a fact," Riku says with more conviction than he'd ever felt before, "I promised him, and if he becomes the darkness..."

Riku softly smiles, relaxing his stance for a moment as he pictures sitting next to Sora on that dark beach, Sora smiling down at him with those fathomless blue eyes.

"Then that just means that we kept our promise back then, and I will follow without a second thought."

Anti-Sora gazes at him, the blank yellow eyes seeming to search him for lies. He finally chuckles as more energy leaks from him, finding himself unable to fight anymore.

 ** _"Heheh, I see...very well, I know when to admit defeat. Just remember to keep that promise Dream Eater, I am always watching, always waiting to take over again. Next time you will not be able to save him again..."_**

With that ominous warning, Anti fades away back into the darkness, the last thing to remain are those shining yellow eyes before they disappear as well.

"We'll see about that..." Riku murmurs as he watches the platform light up again, all the faces coloring and appearing as bright as before.

 **~o0o~**

As this was going on, the Keyblade bearers in the waking world aren't fairing very well, even Mickey is finding himself barely keeping up with the three shadows. Suddenly the three fakes freeze before clutching their heads as if in agony. The fighters remain ready in case something happens, but are surprise when the three boys brighten in color, appearing as their healthy selves. The three boys smile, as if relieved before the Sora copy disappears, startling the on edge warriors. Behind them, Anti-Sora darkens in color, appearing as the Anti-Form that they're all familiar with, before the darkness engulfing him dissipates, revealing a sleeping Sora who collapses to the ground.

"Sora!" Kairi, Donald and Goofy run to the unconscious boy, checking him over as Mickey and Lea meet with the remaining blondes. Mickey, with sadness in his eyes as he observes Ventus, and Lea, who refuses to look at Roxas at all, emerald eyes swimming with regret.

Roxas walks up to Lea, giving him a warm smile, _"Looks like we kept our promise, eh Axel?"_

Lea look at the blonde in surprise, blinking a couple of times before he recovers and a small smile comes on to his face, "yeah, we did," he says softly.

Lea scratches the back of his head, ruffling the red spikes of hair before saying, "hey Roxas, sorry for hiding so much from you-"

Roxas scoffs, interrupting the red head before he replies good naturally, _"you were doing it to protect me right? If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have tried to look for answers and I would have still been under Xemnas' thumb!"_

He smiles, blue eyes sparkling and causing Lea's breath to catch in his throat, _"there's nothing to forgive, so don't keep thinking that you need to apologize."_

Lea stands there for a moment, stunned before he decides to break the silence between them, his usual smirk falling back into place.

"Still the softy behind the stone Rockass? Should have expected it from you."

 _"Oh bite me Axel,"_ Roxas snaps, though the twinkle in his eyes negates the annoyance he is trying to project. He turns serious again, _"Oh, and I need to tell you something..."_

Meanwhile, Ventus and Mickey stand together, gazing at each other with Mickey having a sad expression, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for ya' Ven, but I promise I haven't forgotten you."

Ventus smiles, "I _know, don't give up yet Your Majesty, Aqua is closer than you think. You just have to keep trying."_ He sighs, looking tired all of a sudden, _"and so is my body, I still need time to heal, and this has sent me back some, but we will see each other again soon."_

"I know," Mickey says. Roxas comes up next to the other blonde, both starting to fade. Kairi is the next to come up, Donald and Goofy trailing behind while lugging Sora between them. Her eyes flick back and forth at the two boys for a bit.

"You know, it's so strange how much you two look alike, almost as if Roxas is supposed to be Ventus' nobody..." She muses.

Both boys blink at that, glancing at each other before looking back at her and smiling, not commenting on it. _"We'll see you guys soon,"_ Roxas says before both fade away into little balls of light, traveling back to the unconscious brunette.

This is when Lea comes up, a thoughtful look on his face and emerald eyes troubled. When the others look at him questioningly he sighs, simply shaking his head and taking Sora off Donald and Goofy's hands.

"Come on, I'm sure the guys back at Radiant are wondering about us," he says hauling Sora over his shoulder carefully before heading off in the direction they came from. The rest of the group glance at each other in confusion before following after, watching the red head leading them.

 **.o.0.o.**

 **The final chapter of this story will be posted next week, so be prepared. I think I'll save anything I want to say until then (since I don't want to run the risk of repeating myself...plus I don't have much to add to this), so I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I hope you all have a great week!**

 **~Sorceress**


	27. We're both screwed up but that's okay

Riku finds himself back in the bedroom from before, but the scene is different. Instead of the heavy atmosphere when he was battling the darkness, the air seems more solemn. Riku hears quiet sniffles coming from one side of the bed and walks over to find Sora, still a child, with his face buried in his knees. Riku goes and sits beside the boy, reaching over and putting an arm around the smaller figure. Sora turns and buries his face in the silveret's chest, his hands gripping bunches of the yellow zip up vest Riku is wearing.

"I'm sorry," Sora says, his voice muffled. Riku shakes his head, smiling gently and slowly rubbing Sora's back in a soothing fashion.

"It's not your fault Sora-"

"Yes it is!" Sora interrupts jerking his head up to look into Riku's eyes, "I listened to him! I let him take me over! How can you say it's not my fault?!" Sora's lip quivers as more tears spill down his cheeks, "you all should hate me..."

Riku sighs as his hand moves to begin petting spiky brown hair, "I don't have a right to hate you, seeing as I did the same so long ago. And the others will understand too."

"No they won't," Sora insists, hiccupping every once in a while, "I became the thing we're trying to fight. A monster, why would they understand?"

"You're right, they don't understand," Riku says, "but just because they don't understand, doesn't mean they aren't going to be there for you Sora. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for not seeing the signs."

Riku pulls Sora around until the brunette is sitting in front of him, never breaking eye contact. "you can't bottle all this crap up and not expect something like this to happen. The difference between before and now is you actually have more responsibility, _and_ you have something physical to hold back, just as I do."

Sora winces as if Riku had struck him, looking about ready to cry again. Blue-green eyes soften as Riku goes on to say, "but it's like you keep telling me, you can't do it all on your own. No one should expect you to either, all you have to do is ask and we'll help you."

"But everyone expects me to be able to handle it," Sora says, looking away, "I'm always expected to help everyone, to always be there with a big smile and say everything's gonna be fine. But I can't-"

"Sora," Riku puts a finger to his chin and forces the boy to look at him, "would you rather it be the way it was back then?"

"Well no, but-"

"Would you rather have never gone though what you've gone through? Even with me falling to the darkness, you've made so many friends. Would you throw all of that away?"

"No," Sora responds.

Riku smiles at him, "then why do you think that you have to keep it all in and hide it? If they're really your friends, then they would want to help you however they can. They wouldn't care that you can change into a heartless, they would still be there to support you; don't ever think you have to be strong all the time."

Sora sniffles a little bit, giving Riku a small smile. It wasn't like his usually carefree grin, but it was better than the fake one he's been showing, "thanks pot," he teases, laughing a bit. Riku pulls Sora into a hug, the brunette returning it gratefully.

"I realize that. Regardless, you know we're always here for you Sor, you just gotta let us; you're not alone in this." Riku says.

Sora nods, pulling away and smiling genuinely, "then you do the same."

Riku grins; there's the Sora he knows, "are you ready to wake up now?"

Sora nods again determinedly, slowly fading along with Riku as they felt themselves leave the dream world.

"I'm ready."

 **~o0o~**

Riku groans as he feels himself come to, blearily looking around to see that he is in a foreign bedroom. He hears movement over on the bed and jumps up from his spot on the floor, rushing over to the stirring male. Deep blue eyes blink open before Sora smiles, giving the impression of someone who just awoke from a sweet dream, "morning Riku," He murmurs drowsily.

Riku grins back, slightly amused at the lazy actions coming from the other, "morning to you too." He says before a crash is heard behind them.

Sora bolts up as both boys look in the direction of the noise, finding Kairi, with a bowl of what was probably water shatter around her feet. She covers her mouth with both hands as tears gather in her eyes, frozen in place.

"You're awake..." She whispers before removing her hands to show a relieved smile, "YOU'RE AWAKE!" She exclaims before leaping and throwing her arms around her two friends in a strangle hold. Riku and Sora grunt at the enthusiastic embrace before each putting an arm around their crying friend, glancing at each other over her shoulders and having their own relieved grins.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up after almost three weeks."

The three friends pull apart and look at Lea, leaning against the doorframe casually with his usual lopsided grin. When all eyes are on him he pushes himself away from the door and walks farther into the room, "you had everyone worried there, after you changed out of Anti-Form, you slept for a few extra days."

"I was in Anti-form?" Sora says blankly before his eyes widened and it all came rushing back, asking anxiously, "oh man, is-?"

Lea chuckles and waves him off, "The world you went to is fine, in fact you did a huge favor for Arcadia. When you get better, we can go visit Maia and them and show them you're okay."

Sora nods and relaxes, gracing all of them with a relieved smile. Lea chuckles.

"By the way, the king wants to know how you've been. If you wanna know where he is, then-"

Sora jumps out of bed and runs to the door before Lea can finish, leaving the red head with his mouth hanging open before he closes it and shakes his head bemusedly.

"Couldn't wait huh?" He says wryly. Kairi and Riku glance at each other before they let out a knowing chuckle.

"That's our Sora for you."

 **.o.0.o.**

After running around the tower blindly for a few minutes, Sora finally finds Mickey in Yen Sid's office, with the aforementioned wizard along with Donald and Goofy. Both royal wizard and guard tackle the brunet, all three laughing as Mickey and Yen Sid watch with small smiles. After a bunch of nuzzling and jumbled words, Sora finally gets released from his old traveling companions and manages to apologize to Mickey and Yen Sid about all the trouble he'd caused.

"It's okay Sora," Mickey reassures, "you weren't exactly in your right frame of mind at the time. The important thing is, are you okay?"

Sora automatically smiles, "yeah, I'm fine."

"Sora," Donald said slowly, eyes narrowing in suspicion, "if you don't wanna talk about it then say so, but don't lie."

Sora's grin drops to be replaced by mild surprise, "I feel okay right now," he says honestly, scratching the back of his head as he looks away from the others, "not everything's sunk in yet, so maybe later I'll freak out," The brunet smiles again as he looks at them, this time softer and more genuine, "but right this second, I'm fine."

Yen Sid nods as if he were expecting such an answer before rising from his desk and beckoning Sora to follow him, "now, I must check you for any traces of that potion that may remain. Follow me to the infirmary."

 **.o.0.o.**

With his friends around him, Sora gets scanned and Master Yen Sid comes to the conclusion that the potion has left the boy's system.

"But," he says, "I still sense hidden darkness within you, I would advise you to learn to control it so that a situation like this won't happen again."

Sora looks around him, seeing the worried faces of his friends. Then his eyes fall on Riku, who's face is very stoic at the news. Sora gives a big grin and jumps off the cot he's been sitting on, gives Riku a one armed hug which surprises the silver haired male.

"That's fine! That just means that I'll be more like Riku right?" He says cheerily.

Riku studies him, looking into the brunet's eyes to see if he is hiding something. He sees a little worry in those fathomless blue depths, but not much else. Deciding to fall back on routine, if only to halt any uncomfortable questions, Riku smirks, "I guess I can train you, but you know I'm still better."

Sora scoffs, giving Riku a playful glare, "of coarse you're better, you've had it longer!" A flat out lie on the last part, but the others don't need to know that.

Later that night, while the others are in bed, Sora steps outside into in courtyard of the Tower of Mystery. He looks up at the sky, watching the millions of stars, worlds he knows now, and a smile graces his features and softens them.

"You alright Sora?"

Sora sighs, but his smile doesn't leave his face as he turns to face the silveret. "yeah, I'm not gonna break down if that's what you're worried about," He says.

Riku hums, seeming to accept the answer, before his gaze becomes thoughtful. After a bit he motions Sora to follow him and leads him to a clear grassy area a ways away from the tower. The boys sit and silently gaze up at the stars, their own thoughts flitting through their heads as they try and figure out what to say. Finally, Riku huffs and says in a low voice, "Sora...I'm sorry."

"For what?" Sora asks.

"For..." Riku sighs, "for not seeing that you needed me until it was almost too late."

Sora blinks once, twice, before he begins snickering. Riku raises a brow at the strange reaction before Sora says almost drily, "I feel like we've had this talk before."

Riku gives him a blank stare before he chuckles, "yeah, I guess we have," he becomes solemn again, "that doesn't make it any less true though. It's been so long since those times that I actually started believing that those smiles and dopey moments of yours were the real you."

"It is the real me," Sora says chuckling, "for a while I was like that. Well, the 'dopey moments' are debatable, but other then that I was that happy-go-lucky kid."

Sora frowns, his eyes dimming, "but with all that we've gone through, you can't expect me to actually be that stupid right? I mean sure, a lot of the stuff we've learned is confusing, but that doesn't mean I'm in denial or anything."

Riku smiles in understanding, "you act that way so the others won't worry right?"

"Well that's part of it," Sora admits, focusing his eyes up at the dark sky, "I find that acting clueless is a great tactic so my enemies underestimate me a little, but it's also the fact that..."

Sora sighs, leaning forward and studying the ground in front of him, "everybody's use to seeing me act like that, you know? After a while it became something along the lines of...what was that saying? 'Fake it 'till you make it'? I figured if I kept telling myself and everyone that everything was going to be fine and that it would all work out and acting like it...then that would mean I'd eventually believe it myself."

The boys sit in silence, listening to sounds of the night and feeling the calm breeze flow over them. Riku suddenly begins snickering, becoming progressively worse before he's out right gaffawing, wrapping his arms around his stomach at the force. Sora stares at the hysterical silveret, slack jawed as he wonders if Riku has finally lost it. When Riku finally calms down to a few chuckles Sora gives him a questioning look and he shakes his head.

"We're both seriously screwed up in the head aren't we?"

At Sora's confused expression, Riku elaborates, "we both have issues, the difference is that I sit around sulking about it and you just try pushing it away until the shit hits the fan. We don't necessarily have good methods of dealing with our problems do we?" Riku finishes with a wry smirk.

Sora's eyes widen and he begins snickering as well, "yeah, you do sulk a lot. Emo."

"Dummy." Riku throws back.

"Freak."

"Dumbass."

They both grin at each other as the tension in the air around them dissipates. It's at that moment both of them realize that everything would actually be okay in the end. They both still have a lingering shadow covering them, they still have to deal with the up and coming war, but they wouldn't have to deal with it all alone. They still have their friends, and they still have each other. And at that one, peaceful moment...

Neither of them would have it any other way.

 **Final A/N**

 **Thank you everyone for sticking with this story 'till the end, I hope that it isn't too disappointing. I'd like to think that Kingdom Hearts 3 would start sometime after this ends, but this is Fanfiction, so not it's likely. A girl can dream though right? XD**

 **Special thanks to FireWolf13th for letting me borrow her oc, even though Fire was begging me to let her in anyway. Haha! Still, much appreciated Wolf, I'm always glad for the help!**

 **As always, I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I'll see you somewhere in Fanfiction!**

 **~Sorceress**


End file.
